On 24 November 1822, during the Congress of Nations of the Holy Alliance, Rossini himself conducted one of his cantatas in the Arena with an orchestra of 125 players. Another important landmark was the performance in July 1842 of Rossini’s Stabat Mater, this time with an orchestra of fifty and a chorus of similar size. With the historic performance of Aïda on 10 August 1913, the Arena began to host an opera festival, and from then onwards an impressive number of musicians and conductors from a variety of cultural and stylistic backgrounds have taken their stand on the podium.

The orchestra now performs not only at the famous summer Arena opera season, but also at the Teatro Filarmonico during the rest of the year, as well as touring widely. In addition to its indissoluble link to this unique outdoor theatre and to the traditional operatic repertoire, in recent years the orchestra has distinguished itself in the field of contemporary music, both as the leading ensemble in the Arena Foundation’s own VeronaContemporanea Festival and in performances of new works of music theatre at international events such as the Venice Music Biennale.

Orchestra dell’Arena di Verona with conductor Carlo Miotto