Summer opera season to be held under the stars at the Circus Maximus from 29 June until 31 July.
Rome’s summer opera festival will move from its traditional venue at the Baths of Caracalla to the Circus Maximus in 2026, the Teatro dell’Opera di Roma has announced.
The move, to allow restoration work to be carried out at the Baths of Caracalla complex, will see the festival’s seat allocation rise to a capacity of 6,000 spectators per evening.
The open-air summer programme, running from 29 June to 31 July, coincides with the appointment of the new artistic director at Opera di Roma, Alessandro Galoppini.
His appointment completes a stable leadership team, with music director Michele Mariotti, ballet director Eleonora Abbagnato and chorus master Ciro Visco all recently confirmed in their roles until 2030.
Verdi, Gladiator and St Francis
The 2026 programme blends traditional operatic masterpieces with cinematic spectacles.
The season’s centrepiece is a new production of Giuseppe Verdi’s Aida, directed by Daniele Finzi Pasca, on select dates between 12 and 28 July.
Known for his visionary, circus-influenced aesthetic, Finzi Pasca’s debut for the Rome Opera promises to utilise the scale of the Circus Maximus venue to its full potential.
Cinematic history will also take centre stage with The Gladiator in Concert, on 3 and 4 July.
Ridley Scott‘s Oscar-winning epic will be projected, in Italian with English subtitles, accompanied by the Rome Opera Orchestra and Chorus performing Hans Zimmer and Lisa Gerrard’s score live.
The event will feature a rare appearance by Lisa Gerrard herself, whose haunting vocals are synonymous with the film’s emotional power.
The season opens on 29 June with a lecture-performance by historian Alessandro Barbero who presents a vivid and human portrait of St Francis of Assisi.
Dance and contemporary vision
Ballet remains a cornerstone of the summer calendar. The legendary Roberto Bolle returns with his Roberto Bolle and Friends gala on 14 July, followed by John Cranko’s classic choreography of Romeo and Juliet on 24 and 25 July.
The latter, performed by the Rome Opera Ballet under the direction of Abbagnato, focuses on the lyrical power of Prokofiev’s score to tell the tragic Shakespearean tale.
The festival concludes on 31 July with Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana. Conducted by Wayne Marshall, this symphonic-choral powerhouse will be enhanced by a contemporary video installation by the art collective Anagoor, bridging the gap between mediaeval secular songs and modern visual technology.
Pop legends and practical information
Broadening its appeal to a wider audience, the venue will also host a series of pop concerts featuring Italian icons Riccardo Cocciante and Edoardo Bennato, alongside the “High Priestess of Punk,” Patti Smith, on 27 July.
All performances are scheduled to begin at 21.00, with Carmina Burana slightly later at 21.30. Tickets range from €15 to €170 and will be available for purchase starting Friday 13 March via the official Teatro dell’Opera di Roma website.
Photo Fabrizio Sansoni – Teatro dell’Opera di Roma.
