Arena di Verona Festival (Verona Arena Festival) is a summer festival of

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libre ...

, located in the city of

Verona Verona ( , ; vec, Verona or ) is a city on the Adige River in Veneto, Italy, with 258,031 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region. It is the largest city municipality in the region and the second largest in nor ...

Italy. Since 1936, it has been organized under the auspices of an official body, first the Ente Autonomo Spettacoli Lirici Arena di Verona, (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 The Verona Arena ( it, Arena di Verona ) is a Roman amphitheatre in Piazza Bra in Verona, Italy built in 30 AD. It is still in use today and is internationally famous for the large-scale opera performances given there. It is one of the best ...

, an ancient

Roman amphitheatre Roman amphitheatres are theatres – large, circular or oval open-air venues with raised seating – built by the ancient Romans. They were used for events such as gladiator combats, '' venationes'' (animal slayings) and executions. About 230 Ro ...

, which was capable of holding 30,000 spectators. Performances traditionally begin at dusk and spectators on the stone seats of the arena bring small candles (the "mocoleto"), which are lit as darkness falls and the performances begin. AIDA at the Arena di Versona 2011

Arena di Verona-AIDA-trumpeters in Act 2

First opera productions

The first operas were performed in 1913 in celebration of the centenary of the birth of Giuseppe Verdi and were produced by the tenor

Giovanni Zenatello Giovanni Zenatello (22 February 1876 – 11 February 1949) 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 r ...

and the theatre impresario Ottone Rovato. Their staging of ''

Aida ''Aida'' (or ''Aïda'', ) is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Antonio Ghislanzoni. Set in the Old Kingdom of Egypt, it was commissioned by Cairo's Khedivial Opera House and had its première there on 24 Decemb ...

'' 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 thrilled audiences with his appearances in Flotow's '' Martha''. Between 1947 and 1954

Maria Callas Maria Callas . (born Sophie Cecilia Kalos; December 2, 1923 – September 16, 1977) was an American-born Greek soprano who was one of the most renowned and influential opera singers of the 20th century. Many critics praised her ''bel cant ...

was a regular after creating a sensation in Ponchielli's ''

La Gioconda La Gioconda ( , ; "the joyful one" feminine_gender.html" ;"title="'feminine gender">f.'' may refer to: * ''Mona Lisa'' or ''La Gioconda'', a painting by Leonardo da Vinci * Lisa del Giocondo, the model depicted in da Vinci's painting * La Gioconda ...

''. 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. 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 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 (; 1 January 1927 – 22 November 2007) was a French-born dancer, choreographer and opera director who ran the Béjart Ballet Lausanne in Switzerland. He developed a popular expressionistic form of modern ballet, talking vast ...

brought the Ballet du XXe Siècle from La Monnaie in Brussels and choreographed Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. This première was interrupted by rain, but the performance continued to a cassette tape of the music and without the orchestra.

Use of Blackface

In July 2022, following the release of publicity photos for a performance of

at the

, soprano Anna Netrebko and the opera company both faced heavy criticism for the use of

blackface Blackface is a form of theatrical makeup used predominantly by non-Black people, Black people to portray a caricature of a Black person. In the United States, the practice became common during the 19th century and contributed to the spread of ...

; the titular character of the opera being an Ethiopian princess. Responding to criticisms, the festival cited historical precedent, claiming it is "very hard to change" the production to avoid the use of blackface. Of note, this staging dates from 2002. Subsequently, soprano Angel Blue canceled her upcoming performances at the Arena di Verona, citing the company's insistence on maintaining the practice. In an Instagram post, she wrote: "The use of blackface under any circumstances, artistic or otherwise, is a deeply misguided practice based on archaic theatrical traditions which have no place in modern society. It is offensive, humiliating, and outright racist." Other notable singers to have publicly spoken out against the use of blackface in opera include the mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton who cited this performance directly, and Stephanie Blythe, who suggested an abstention from performing operas that have typically featured white singers made up to appear as other ethnicities. Nigerian American baritone Babatunde Akinboboye posted on

TikTok TikTok, known in China as Douyin (), is a short-form video hosting service owned by the Chinese company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which can range in duration from 15 seconds to 10 minutes. TikTok is an international version ...

and

Instagram Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...

, condemning Netrebko's use of blackface and disputing the opera company's claim that blackface is still a necessary practice. Veronalapidary1

Teatro Filarmonico

Since 1976 the organization has expanded its artistic activities from October of one year to May of the following year in the rebuilt Teatro Filarmonico, a theatre which had been destroyed in World War II. With this new addition, the organization could accumulate a permanent collection of artists (the orchestra, the choir and the corps de ballet) and technicians who represent the productions that are staged in Verona and transported nationally and internationally.

References

External links