Opera Houses

Posted by Kyle (SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA, United States) on 02/27/14 10:24 PM

Greetings!

My wife and I are taking our first trip to Italy in October. We'd really like to see an Italian Opera but unfortunately it seems like none of the big opera houses are showing anything in the time we're there. My questions is are there smaller opera houses in the major cities or is it generally just one main one? We'll be in Rome, Naples, Milan, and possibly Florence. If we can't find an opera is there a similar experience we could find? Perhaps an orchestra concert or something along those lines? Thanks so much!

Posted by Frank

Tresana, Highlands Ranch, CO, USA

02/27/14 10:48 PM

23666 posts

There are many opera houses but hard to advise without knowing the schedule. You best bet is hit the TI when you first arrive in town and get a schedule of the weekly events. They can help you id the events, assist with tickets, etc.

Posted by Kyle OP

SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA, United States

02/27/14 10:50 PM

10 posts

Thanks, Frank. I guessed there were more than just the big main houses, but hadn't seen much with regards to smaller ones. I'll check it out at the Ti when we get there.

Posted by Judy

Alexandria, MN, USA

02/28/14 02:01 AM

175 posts

Kyle, We were in Florence last March and went to an Opera in a church across the river. I either read about it in Rick Steves' "Florence and Tuscany" book or on Trip Advisor attractions. I ordered tickets from their website and we picked them up that night. There are only about 60 people there, and they perform in the middle of the church. It was very good and inexpensive...even a senior rate! I don't have my RS book so can't give more details.

Posted by Judy

Alexandria, MN, USA

02/28/14 02:08 AM

175 posts

Kyle, Found the church website on Trip Advisor.
http://www.concertoclassico.info/
Judy

Posted by Sam

Green Bay

02/28/14 02:51 AM

21373 posts

September and October are ballet season at La Scala. Romeo and Juliet, Oct 10-23. There are a few recitals and orchestra concerts in these months as well. Opera season kicks off Oct 31.
Rome Opera (Teatro dell'Opera di Roma) opens with Rigoletto Oct 21 and goes almost every night to the end of the month.
Naples (Teatro di San Carlo) is doing Elixir of Love, Oct 5,8,11,12

Posted by Southam

Windsor, Ontario, Canada

03/01/14 12:39 AM

4096 posts

Wikipedia offers a very long list of Italian opera houses http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_opera_houses#Italy
Its main discussion headlined Italian Opera contains lots of good information about the history of Italy's favourite music form.
In my experience the municipal tourism information sites often include lists of events including what's on at their own opera houses.

Posted by Sharon

Fort Worth, Tx, USA

03/01/14 12:13 PM

8 posts

We found our tickets using this site. We were able to purchase the tickets beforehand.
You can use this site for events through out the world.

http://www.classictic.com/en/

Sharon

Posted by andrea

Milano

03/01/14 03:03 PM

60 posts

the teatro ponchielli in cremona,near milan, is open in october for opera...http://www.teatroponchielli.it/stagioni/lirica/

Posted by Tom

Easley, SC, USA

03/01/14 03:12 PM

306 posts

Kyle,

I'm a militant opera fan! My wife and I will be all over Italy in September. Alas, almost no opera!

My favorite site for searching almost the entire opera world for schedules is www.operabase.com. Search for performances in October. Don't bother to try to guess how it tracks locations. It's not entirely intuitive. Just input the dates and browse what happens. Who knows? You could decide to swap Italy for somewhere else if they're doing your favorites! I made almost a whole trip around Europe in 2012 based on what I wanted to see, where, and when! Loved it!