The Caracalla Festival 2026 promises to be an exceptional event on the opera scene, with four new productions of great prestige.
The article from last year’s edition follows. Coming soon
On July 1, Georg Friedrich Händel's La Resurrezione will be performed. The theme is deeply symbolic: the action takes place between Good Friday and Easter, alternating between the conflicts between Lucifer and the angel and the intense reflections of Mary Magdalene, Mary of Cleophas and St. John the Evangelist.
It is a struggle between faith and the lack of it, between the enthusiasm and the cynicism that characterize contemporary life.
The musical director is George Petrou, and the cast includes Sara Blanch (Angelo), Ana Maria Labin (Magdalene), Teresa Iervolino (Cleophas), Charles Workman (St. John) and Giorgio Caoduro (Lucifer).
Repeats will be performed on July 2, 4 and 5.
The program at the Teatro di Caracalla continues with La Traviata (July 19). Slovak director and artist Daubnerová, a pioneer of experimental theater in Europe, brings her distinctive and free artistic language to Italy for the first time.
Conductor Francesco Lanzillotta conducts the performance, while the artist Corinne Winters, already acclaimed for her roles in operas such as Madama Butterfly and Dialogues des Carmélites, plays the role of Violetta. She is joined by tenor Piotr Buszewski as Alfredo and baritone Luca Micheletti as Germont. The Teatro Chorus is conducted by Ciro Visco and the Corps de Ballet by Eleonora Abbagnato.
The performance will take place on July 23 and 27 and August 1, 2 and 3.
On July 20, the Maxentius Basilica will host Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Il Don Giovanni, a cornerstone of the classical repertoire.
The opera will be presented with an innovative and provocative vision by Vasily Barkhatov, making his debut in the capital. Baritone Roberto Frontali, at the peak of his career, will take on the role of the unrepentant libertine Don Giovanni for the first time, offering a mature and irredeemable version of the character. The production will be conducted by Alessandro Cadario, a rising star of recent seasons at the Rome Opera. The cast also includes such great performers as Vito Priante as Leporello, Nadja Mchantaf as Donna Anna, Carmela Remigio as Donna Elvira, and Anthony León as Don Ottavio. The chorus of the theater will be conducted by Ciro Visco.
The show will be performed on July 22, 24 and 25.
The new production of West Side Story will be performed at the Baths of Caracalla on Saturday, July 5.
Directed by Maestro Michele Mariotti, the show features an international cast with American and Italian artists such as Sofia Caselli as Maria and Marek Zurowski as Tony. The show explores the more human aspects of the story, such as impulsivity and irrationality, and contrasts the dream of inclusiveness with the reality of poverty and the impossibility of fulfilling one's desires, including those of love.
The play will be performed on July 9, 10, 13 and 17.
All these productions will be entrusted to emerging directors from the "nuovelle vague" of international opera direction, including Ilaria Lanzino, Sláva Daubnerová, Vasily Barkhatov and Damiano Michieletto himself, who will bring his innovative vision to these classic works.
Four not-to-be-missed titles, entrusted to world-renowned directors, promise to offer the audience of the Caracalla 2025 Festival unique emotions and modern interpretations of the great masterpieces of musical theater.
Caracalla 2025, with its combination of classical and modern works and the talents of outstanding directors and musical directors, promises to be an unmissable event for opera lovers.
