The four other operas to be presented in the Arena this summer are Verdi's Aida, Puccini's La Bohme, Rossini's Il barbiere di Siviglia and Verdi's La traviata.
Aida, which will receive the most performances (17) this season, will be directed by Giampiero Solari with costume and stage design by Sergio Tramonti. Its notable cast of singers includes: Hui He, Amarilli Nizza, Micaela Carosi as Aida; Piero Giuliacci and Marco Berti as Radames; and Marianne Cornetti, Elena Manistina and Dolora Zajick as Amneris. The opera has remained the festival's most popular since inaugurating the festival in 1913; there have been 47 different productions and some 500 performances.
The Arena's third production, La Bohme, debuted in 2005 and will be directed this summer by Arnaud Bernard with costume and stage designs by William Orlandi. Rossini's Il barbiere di Siviglia, the festival's next production, will be directed by Hugo de Ana, who will also serve as its costume and stage designer.
The last opera is Verdi's La traviata, directed by Graham Vick with stage and costumes designs by Paul Brown. This production made its debut in 2004 and features a story transposed to the present day.
The festival, which recently appointed composer Giorgio Battistelli as its new artistic director, holds its performances in an ancient Roman amphitheater whose original seating capacity topped at 30,000. Spectators bring small candles that are lit as night falls and the concerts start.
The Arena di Verona Festival has planned a total of 49 performances and runs until September 1; details are available at www.arena.it.
