"Operas in the Arena" Top 5 Page for this destination Verona by Nemorino

Verona Travel Guide: 1,993 reviews and 4,151 photos

First scene of Carmen

On my visit to Verona in August 2006 I saw three open-air opera performances in the Arena di Verona: Verdi's Aida, Bizet's Carmen and Puccini's Madama Butterfly. What they had in common was that all three productions were by the same stage director, Franco Zeffirelli (born in 1923), who also designed the stage sets for all three.

Spectators in the Arena, with candles

Zeffirelli has a reputation for being spectacular and sentimental. He is very popular with some audiences, but serious opera critics tend to pan his productions, calling them "sprawling" and "grotesquely overdone". He is often accused of creating "operatic excess" using "monumental sets and glitter". He likes to have his huge stage sets filled with hundreds of lavishly costumed extra players and dancers. Obviously he prefers to work at large opera venues where money is no object, such as the New York Met, the Vienna State Opera and London's Covent Garden -- and of course at the massive Arena di Verona.

Since the Arena is such an ideal venue for his kind of staging, the only surprising thing is that he didn't start earlier. His first opera production at the Arena wasn't until 1995. That was his Carmen production, which is the same one I saw in 2006.

Please see my Nightlife tips for further details on operas in the Arena.

Juliet

Besides staging operas, Zeffirelli also has another connection with Verona, because in 1968 he made a highly successful film version of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. At "Juliet's House" in Verona you can see her original, absolutely genuine bed. No, not the bed that anybody by that name might have used in the fourteenth century, but the one used for the love scene in Zeffirelli's film.

Since Verona is so proud of Romeo and Juliet, you might wonder why they don't perform operas about them. They have done so only twice in 85 years. In 1939 they did three performances of Giulietta e Romeo by a now-forgotten composer called Riccardo Zandonai (1883 - 1944), and in 1977 they did six performances of Roméo et Juliette by the French composer Charles Gounod (1818 - 1893).

Personally I rather like Gounod's Roméo et Juliette, and am listening to a recording of it as I write this, but he has unfortunately never been very popular in Italy, so they have never revived that 1977 production.

Update 2008: To my surprise, they actually did two performances of Roméo et Juliette in the summer of 2008, on Saturday 16 August and Tuesday 19 August. (Maybe they read this page, LOL?)

Update 2011: Not only that, they have announced a new production of Roméo et Juliette for August 2011, with a “cast of which is composed in its majority by young promising artists debuting at the Arena, and with a new set design”. They even say that “this new production for the 2011 programme wants to enter the annual repertoire of the Opera Festival” – and they are promoting it with a very well-done flash mob video on their website and on YouTube -- including Juliet singing a few bars from her very own fake balcony in Verona.

They don't do ballets any more in the Arena, but they used to, and the one they did the most often in those years was Romeo e Giulietta by Sergej Prokofiev (1891 - 1953).

As on all my VirtualTourist pages, the photos here are all ones I have taken myself, so please don't use them for anything without asking me.

Last visit to Verona: Aug 2006
Intro Updated Aug 21, 2011
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Reviews (49)

1. Clearing the stage in the middle of the night - Verona

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Comments (60)

Regina1965 Mar 8, 2012 at 11:39 PM Report Abuse

I very much enjoyed reading your opera tips :) I, personally, like to dress up for the opera, but then I don´t go there too often. So many things I want to comment on here... but will just say - loved reading your tips :)
balhannah Feb 2, 2012 at 8:56 PM Report Abuse

Wow! Would have been amazing seeing the Opera's in the Arena! What a huge crowd, and the "set's" are fantastic!
picek Jan 31, 2012 at 7:05 AM Report Abuse

I've just found out we'll be probably in Verona for one night this Saturday! I hope it won't be too cold for cycling, but they promise minus... your page as always has some very good practical tips and vivid descriptions of opera are nice to read:)
FruitLover Jun 6, 2011 at 10:55 PM Report Abuse

Ciao Don, so much to see in Italia, haven't been yet to that beautiful city. Thanx for sharing. Greetings from Jerusalem, Avi
Redang Mar 11, 2011 at 1:58 AM Report Abuse

I chose that hotel thanks to a VT member (and Iewanted something close to the station as I used the trains very much)
hunterV Oct 21, 2010 at 11:08 AM Report Abuse

Hello, Don! Thanks for your wonderful story! ><><><><
unaS Sep 23, 2010 at 3:05 AM Report Abuse

The way you describe visiting a city by bicycle "The best way to see the city in my opinion is to keep riding around and take different turns every time..." is the way that I like to walk around a new city :)
June.b Sep 22, 2010 at 2:45 PM Report Abuse

That was a dramatic stage on your main pic of "Carmen", it must have been a really entertaining play. Love how you capture the whole stage scene, amazing. TC
Jefie Jun 20, 2010 at 4:07 AM Report Abuse

I've just finished reading through your nightlife tips and it now feels like I did make it to the opera, only the beautiful music was missing! Thanks for sharing these amazing experiences with us :o)
Ina22Marina Apr 23, 2010 at 3:38 PM Report Abuse

Good for you, for being able to enjoy 3 operas at the Arena. Great account! Reminded me of my seeing Le Bejar Ballet Lausanne under the stars in Perpignan. Splendid!!