Arena di Verona Festival
Encyclopedia
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
, located in the city of Verona
Verona
Verona ; German Bern, Dietrichsbern or Welschbern) is a city in the Veneto, northern Italy, with approx. 265,000 inhabitants and one of the seven chef-lieus of the region. It is the second largest city municipality in the region and the third of North-Eastern Italy. The metropolitan area of Verona...
Italy. Since 1936, it has been organized under the auspices of an official body, first the Ente Autonomo Spettacoli Lirici Arena di Verona, (the autonomous organization for lyrical productions of the Arena di Verona), and then, following legislation in 1996 and 1998, the Ente Lirico Arena di Verona was transformed into a private foundation, the present-day Arena di Verona Foundation
Opera performances are given in Arena di Verona, an ancient Roman amphitheatre
Roman amphitheatre
Roman amphitheatres are amphitheatres – large, circular or oval open-air venues with raised seating – built by the Ancient Romans. They were used for events such as gladiator combats, chariot races, venationes and executions. About 230 Roman amphitheatres have been found across the area of the...
, which was capable of holding 30,000 spectators. Performances traditionally begin at dusk and spectactors on the stone seats of the arena bring small candles (the "mocoleto") which are lit as darkness falls and the performances begin.
First opera productions
The first operas were performed in 1913 in celebration of the centenary of the birth of Giuseppe Verdi
Giuseppe Verdi
Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi was an Italian Romantic composer, mainly of opera. He was one of the most influential composers of the 19th century...
and were produced by the tenor Giovanni Zenatello
Giovanni Zenatello
Giovanni Zenatello was an Italian opera singer. Born in Verona, he enjoyed an international career as a dramatic tenor of the first rank. Otello became his most famous operatic role but he sang a wide repertoire. In 1904, he created the part of Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly.-Career:Zenatello...
and the theatre impresario Ottone Rovato. Their staging of Aida
Aida
Aida sometimes spelled Aïda, is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Antonio Ghislanzoni, based on a scenario written by French Egyptologist Auguste Mariette...
in the biggest open-air lyrical theatre in the world began a long tradition. In the following year Zenatello and others returned and, in the years before 1936, a variety of organizations took over the presentations. These included the Lyrica Italica Ars from 1919 to 1920, the Casa Musicale Sonzogno of Milan from 1921 to 1922, and the impresario Gino Bertolaso from 1923 to 1926, while, in 1934 another organization, the Ente Comunale degli Spettacoli (the municipal performance association) took over the summer festival. Finally, in 1936, a permanent organization was created.
Significant artistic achievements
Many singers made their names and careers by performing at Verona. In 1929 Beniamino Gigli
Beniamino Gigli
Beniamino Gigli was an Italian opera singer. The most famous tenor of his generation, he was renowned internationally for the great beauty of his voice and the soundness of his vocal technique. Music critics sometimes took him to task, however, for what was perceived to be the over-emotionalism...
thrilled audiences with his appearances in Flotow's Martha
Martha (opera)
Martha, oder Der Markt zu Richmond is a 'romantic comic' opera in four acts by Friedrich von Flotow, set to a German libretto by Friedrich Wilhelm Riese and based on a story by Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges....
. Between 1947 and 1954 Maria Callas
Maria Callas
Maria Callas was an American-born Greek soprano and one of the most renowned opera singers of the 20th century. She combined an impressive bel canto technique, a wide-ranging voice and great dramatic gifts...
was a regular after creating a sensation in Ponchielli
Amilcare Ponchielli
Amilcare Ponchielli was an Italian composer, largely of operas.-Biography:Born in Paderno Fasolaro, now Paderno Ponchielli, near Cremona, Ponchielli won a scholarship at the age of nine to study music at the Milan Conservatory, writing his first symphony by the time he was ten years old.Two years...
's La Gioconda
La Gioconda (opera)
La Gioconda is an opera in four acts by Amilcare Ponchielli set to an Italian libretto by Arrigo Boito, based on Angelo, tyran de Padoue, a play in prose by Victor Hugo, dating from 1835...
.
In addition to singers, directors and designers added distinguishing elements to productions such as the 1953 water pool created for Aida by silent cinema director Georg Wilhelm Pabst
Georg Wilhelm Pabst
-Biography:Pabst was born in Raudnitz, Bohemia, Austria-Hungary , the son of a railroad employee.Returning from the United States, he was in France when World War I began...
. His aim was to conjure up the image of the Nile on which little Egyptian boats could sail, and the idea was adapted by Pier Luigi Pizzi
Pier Luigi Pizzi
Pier Luigi Pizzi is an Italian opera director, set designer, and costume designer.-Biography:Pizzi was born in Milan, Italy, and earned a degree in architecture at the Politecnico of Milan...
again in Aida in 1999. Also, it was Pabst who was responsible for the introduction of a great number of animals on stage, including elephants, horses and dromedaries, and this form of spectacle has become a prominent feature of many opera productions in Verona.
Dance and classic concert performances have also been given in the Arena. Classical ballets and traditional dances from all over the world have been seen. In 1976, Maurice Béjart
Maurice Béjart
Maurice Béjart was a French born, Swiss choreographer who ran the Béjart Ballet Lausanne in Switzerland. He was the son of the French philosopher Gaston Berger.- Biography :...
brought the "Ballet du XXe Siècle" from the La Monnaie
La Monnaie
Le Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie , or the Koninklijke Muntschouwburg is a theatre in Brussels, Belgium....
opera house in Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
and choreographed Beethoven's 9th symphony
Symphony No. 9 (Beethoven)
The Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125, is the final complete symphony of Ludwig van Beethoven. Completed in 1824, the symphony is one of the best known works of the Western classical repertoire, and has been adapted for use as the European Anthem...
. This première was interrupted by rain, but the performance continued to a cassette tape of the music and without the orchestra.