From 13 November to 20 June 2027
LOHENGRIN
Richard Wagner
Music Director and Conductor ENRICO CALESSO
Director and Set Designer ARNAUD BERNARD
Associate Director YAMAL DAS IRMICH
Costume designer MARIA CARLA RICOTTI
Lighting Designer EMANUELE AGLIATI
Video Designer SERGIO METALLI
Dramaturg ANNA BORODINA
New production by the Fondazione Teatro Lirico Giuseppe Verdi di Trieste
Principal Cast
King Heinrich (Heinrich der Vogler) EVGENY STAVINSKY
Lohengrin DMITRY KORCHAK / DAVID DANHOLT
Elsa von Brabant GABRIELA SCHERER / NINA BEZU
Friedrich von Telramund MARTIN GANTNER / LARS FOSSER
Ortrud ELENA BATOUKOVA – KERL
A – Friday 13 November 2026, 5:00 PM
S – Saturday 14 November 2026, 3:00 PM
D – Sunday 15 November 2026, 3:00 PM
C – Friday 20 November 2026, 5:00 PM
B – Saturday 21 November 2026, 5:00 PM
E – Sunday 22 November 2026, 3:00 PM
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THE NUTCRACKER
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Ballet
Choreography SIMONE VALASTRO
Set Designer NICOLA RUBERTELLI
Costume Designer GIUSI GIUSTINO
Lighting Designer VALERIO TIBERI
Production by the Fondazione Teatro di San Carlo, Naples
Soloists and Ballet Company of the Teatro di San Carlo, Naples
Orchestra of the Fondazione Teatro Lirico Giuseppe Verdi di Trieste
With the participation of the children’s choir I Piccoli Cantori della Città di Trieste, conducted by Cristina Semeraro
A – Thursday 10 December 2026, 8:00 PM
B – Friday 11 December 2026, 8:00 PM
S – Saturday 12 December 2026, 3:00 PM
C – Saturday 12 December 2026, 8:00 PM
D – Sunday 13 December 2026, 3:00 PM
E – Sunday 13 December 2026, 7:00 PM
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DON GIOVANNI
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Music Director and Conductor ENRICO CALESSO
Director, Set and Costume Designer PIER LUIGI PIZZI
Lighting Designer MASSIMO PIZZI GASPARON CONTARINI
New production by the Fondazione Teatro Lirico Giuseppe Verdi di Trieste
Principal Cast
Don Giovanni GIORGIO CAODURO
Donna Anna MARIA GRAZIA SCHIAVO
Leporello DAVID MENÉNDEZ / VINCENZO NIZZARDO
Donna Elvira EKATERINA BAKANOVA/ ELISA BALBO
Don Ottavio ANTONINO SIRAGUSA
A – Friday 15 January 2027, 8:00 PM
C – Saturday 16 January 2027, 6:00 PM
D – Sunday 17 January 2027, 4:00 PM
B – Thursday 21 January 2027, 8:00 PM
S – Saturday 23 January 2027, 4:00 PM
E – Sunday 24 January 2027, 4:00 PM
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L’ELISIR D’AMORE
Gaetano Donizetti
Music Director and Conductor NICOLÒ JACOPO SUPPA
Director DAMIANO MICHIELETTO
Set Designer PAOLO FANTIN
Costume Designer SILVIA AYMONINO
Lighting designer ALESSANDRO CARLETTI
Production by the Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía, Valencia
Principal Cast
Adina ELENE GVRITISHVILI / FRANCESCA BENITEZ
Nemorino ANTONINO SIRAGUSA / VALERIO BORGIONI
Dr Dulcamara AMBROGIO MAESTRI / ANDREA BORGHINI
Belcore SIMONE ALBERGHINI / JURE POČKAJ
Giannetta TATIANA PREVIATI
A – Friday 12 February 2027, 8:00 PM
C – Saturday 13 February 2027, 6:00 PM
E – Sunday 14 February 2027, 4:00 PM
B – Thursday 18 February 2027, 8:00 PM
S – Saturday 20 February 2027, 4:00 PM
D – Sunday 21 February 2027, 4:00 PM
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LA BOHÈME
Giacomo Puccini
Music Director and Conductor GIUSEPPE MENGOLI
Director MARIO PONTIGGIA
Set Designer ANTONELLA CONTE
Costume Designer FRANCESCO ZITO
Lighting Designer BRUNO CIULLI
Production by the Fondazione Teatro Massimo di Palermo
Principal Cast
Mimì ELISA VERZIER / ANGELA NISI
Rodolfo GALEANO SALAS / GIUSEPPE INFANTINO
Musetta ROCÍO PÉREZ / NOEMI MUSCHETTI
Marcello LUCA GALLI / WILLIAM ALLIONE
Colline INHO JEONG / CLARKE RUTH
With the participation of the children’s choir I Piccoli Cantori della Città di Trieste, conducted by Cristina Semeraro
A – Friday 12 March 2027, 8:00 PM
B – Saturday 13 March 2027, 6:00 PM
D – Sunday 14 March 2027, 4:00 PM
C – Thursday 18 March 2027, 8:00 PM
S – Saturday 20 March 2027, 4:00 PM
E – Sunday 21 March 2027, 4:00 PM
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JEANNE D’ARC AU BÛCHER Arthur Honegger – Text by Paul Claudel / JEANNE DARK Fabio Vacchi – Libretto by Stefano Jacini
Music Director and Conductor ALESSANDRO CADARIO
Director PAOLO VALERIO
Set Designer IVANO COVIELLO
New production by the Fondazione Teatro Lirico Giuseppe Verdi di Trieste, in collaboration with Il Rossetti – Teatro Stabile del Friuli Venezia Giulia
Principal Cast
JEANNE D’ARC AU BÛCHER Arthur Honegger – Paul Claudel
Jeanne d’Arc FEDERICA LUNA VINCENTI
With the participation of the children’s choir I Piccoli Cantori della Città di Trieste, conducted by Cristina Semeraro
JEANNE DARK Fabio Vacchi – Stefano Jacini
Jeanne ALEXIA VOULGARIDOU
Agnese OLHA SMOKOLINA
Stable Boy ANTONINO SIRAGUSA
A – Friday 9 April 2027, 8:00 PM
C – Saturday 10 April 2027, 6:00 PM
D – Sunday 11 April 2027, 4:00 PM
B – Friday 16 April 2027, 8:00 PM
S – Saturday 17 April 2027, 4:00 PM
E – Sunday 18 April 2027, 4:00 PM
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AIDA
Giuseppe Verdi
Music Director and Conductor JORDI BERNÀCER
Director ALESSANDRA PREMOLI
Set Designer NATHALIE DEANA
Costume Designer ANNA MISSAGLIA
Lighting Designer EMILIANO PASCUCCI
New production by the Fondazione Teatro Lirico Giuseppe Verdi di Trieste
Principal Cast
Aida ANNA PIROZZI
Amneris DANIELA BARCELLONA / ARLENE MIATTO ALBELDAS
Radamès FABIO SARTORI / FRANCESCO PIO GALASSO
Amonasro STAVROS MANTIS / LUCA GALLI
Ramfis ABRAMO ROSALEN / EUGENIO DI LIETO
A – Friday 7 May 2027, 8:00 PM
B – Saturday 8 May 2027, 6:00 PM
D – Sunday 9 May 2027, 4:00 PM
C – Thursday 13 May 2027, 8:00 PM
S – Saturday 15 May 2027, 4:00 PM
E – Sunday 16 May 2027, 4:00 PM
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NORMA
Vincenzo Bellini
Music Director and Conductor DANIEL OREN
Director FEDERICO TIEZZI
Set Designers PIER PAOLO BISLERI and MARIO SCHIFANO
Costume Designer GIOVANNA BUZZI
Co-production by the Fondazione Teatro Lirico Giuseppe Verdi di Trieste, Fondazione Teatro Comunale di Bologna and Fondazione Lirico Sinfonica Petruzzelli e Teatri di Bari
Principal Cast
Norma JESSICA PRATT / ROBERTA MANTEGNA
Pollione STEFAN POP
Adalgisa RAFFAELLA LUPINACCI / NINA VAN ESSEN
Oroveso CARLO LEPORE / INHO JEONG
A – Friday 11 June 2027, 8:00 PM
C – Saturday 12 June 2027, 6:00 PM
D – Sunday 13 June 2027, 4:00 PM
B – Friday 18 June 2027, 8:00 PM
S – Saturday 19 June 2027, 4:00 PM
E – Sunday 20 June 2027, 4:00 PM
Choir master PAOLO LONGO
Orchestra, choir and technical staff of the Fondazione Teatro Lirico Giuseppe Verdi di Trieste
To mark the 225th anniversary of the opening of the theatre in 1801, the Teatro Verdi di Trieste will inaugurate its new season by revisiting pivotal moments in its long and distinguished history through Wagner’s Lohengrin, an opera that brings together two landmark dates in the city’s operatic tradition: its first Trieste performance in 1876, conducted by the celebrated Luigi Mancinelli, and the first performance in the original German anywhere in Italian-speaking territory in 1917. The new production will be directed by Arnaud Bernard, with Enrico Calesso as Conductor. December will then see Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker, presented in the Teatro di San Carlo’s production from Naples, followed by three further new productions by the Fondazione Teatro Lirico Giuseppe Verdi di Trieste: Mozart’s Don Giovanni, entrusted to the veteran Pier Luigi Pizzi; a contemporary double bill devoted to Joan of Arc, directed by Paolo Valerio; and, finally, Aida. The season will also welcome Damiano Michieletto’s acclaimed production of Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore from the Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía in Valencia, La Bohème from the Teatro Massimo di Palermo, and a co-production with the theatres of Bologna and Bari of Bellini’s celebrated Norma, featuring stage designs by Pop Art icon Mario Schifano. Together, these productions reflect the Teatro Verdi’s increasingly strong ties with the Italian and European operatic world while continuing to attract internationally renowned artists such as Jessica Pratt, Anna Pirozzi, Fabio Sartori, Daniela Barcellona and Giorgio Caoduro, among many others.
If Trieste has earned its historic reputation above all through literature and music, the Teatro Verdi – one of the world’s oldest opera houses – has long stood at the heart of that cultural legacy. It is therefore fitting to revisit the milestones that have secured its place in musical encyclopaedias across the globe, not least through the artistic vision underpinning each new season. To celebrate the 225th anniversary of its opening in 1801, at the height of the city’s splendour as the second capital of the Habsburg Empire, the Teatro Verdi presents a new production of Wagner’s Lohengrin, directed by Arnaud Bernard and conducted by Enrico Calesso. The opera also coincides with two further anniversaries celebrated this season: the 150th anniversary of its first performance at the theatre in 1876, conducted by Luigi Mancinelli – whom Wagner himself famously described as “the Garibaldi of conductors” – and the 110th anniversary of its first performance in the original German anywhere in Italian-speaking territory, in 1917. The cast will feature outstanding Wagnerian voices, selected with the utmost care by the Theatre’s Artistic Director in collaboration with Enrico Calesso, whose dedication to this repertoire has earned him wide recognition throughout Europe, particularly in German-speaking countries.
In December, in keeping with the festive season tradition, the Teatro Verdi will present a new production of Tchaikovsky’s ballet The Nutcracker, an unmissable treat for audiences of all ages. The production also marks the beginning of a new collaboration with another of Italy’s leading cultural institutions, the Teatro di San Carlo in Naples, following the successful partnership established with the Teatro dell’Opera di Roma. Choreography is by Simone Valastro.
The new year will open with Mozart’s Don Giovanni, bringing Enrico Calesso back to the podium and welcoming the return of Pier Luigi Pizzi as director, set designer and costume designer, following the enthusiastic acclaim received by his elegant double production devoted to the Figaro character at the opening of the current season. The cast features several distinguished returning artists, including Giorgio Caoduro, Ekaterina Bakanova and the outstanding Maria Grazia Schiavo, a highly accomplished interpreter of Donna Anna.
February will see the arrival of Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore in Damiano Michieletto’s acclaimed Valencia production, conducted by the young Niccolò Jacopo Suppa, already well known to Trieste audiences through his work in the symphonic repertoire. Set in an imaginative contemporary seaside resort, this witty staging will feature familiar names such as baritone Simone Alberghini, the refined tenor Antonino Siragusa and the veteran bass-baritone Ambrogio Maestri, alongside rising young talents including the acclaimed soprano Elene Gvritishvili, a guest soloist with the Bavarian State Opera.
March brings the welcome return of Puccini with La Bohème in Mario Pontiggia’s acclaimed production from the Teatro Massimo di Palermo, conducted by the young yet already highly accomplished Giuseppe Mengoli, whose career has included collaborations with such prestigious institutions as the RAI Orchestra in Turin, the Wiener Symphoniker and the Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester. The cast features Trieste-born soprano Elisa Verzier as Mimì, the Mexican-American tenor Galeano Salas, recently acclaimed in Gounod, and the young Spanish soprano Rocío Pérez, an artist of remarkable versatility who has already earned widespread recognition.
May will bring a particularly exciting event with a contemporary double bill devoted to Joan of Arc – the Maid of Orléans: saint, warrior, visionary and one of France’s most enduring cultural icons. The evening opens with Arthur Honegger’s dramatic oratorio Jeanne d’Arc au bûcher, composed in 1938 and presented at the Teatro Verdi for the first time. Widely regarded as one of the earliest works to combine spoken theatre and music on such a scale, it recounts the Saint’s final moments at the stake through a series of striking cinematic flashbacks, as the condemned Joan relives the defining episodes of her extraordinary life while confronting, with profoundly human vulnerability, the imminence of death. The performance continues with the one-act opera Jeanne Dark, receiving only its second staging since its premiere at the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino in 2024, now specially revised for the Teatro Verdi. Composed by Fabio Vacchi to a libretto by the Milanese publisher, novelist and essayist Stefano Jacini, the work offers a complete contrast to Honegger’s vision. Inspired by Voltaire’s irreverent poem on Joan of Arc, it playfully imagines the fate of Europe hinging upon the Maid’s virginity. Jacini’s libretto introduces Voltaire himself as master of ceremonies, alongside a series of delightfully comic episodes of his own invention. It also adds to the plot the historical figure of Gilles de Rais, Joan’s companion-in-arms, before imagining that Joan ultimately escapes the stake and flies to the moon on a winged donkey. Alessandro Cadario, who conducted the world première of Jeanne Dark at the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, returns to the podium, while the production is directed by Paolo Valerio in collaboration with Il Rossetti – Teatro Stabile del Friuli Venezia Giulia.
May also sees a return to the great operatic tradition and to the city’s rich musical heritage with Verdi’s Aida, presented in a new production directed by the young stage director Alessandra Premoli, a former pupil of Davide Livermore, and conducted by Jordi Bernàcer. The stellar cast is headed by Anna Pirozzi in the title role, joined by Daniela Barcellona as Amneris and Fabio Sartori as Radamès.
The season concludes in June with Bellini’s Norma, conducted by Daniel Oren in the celebrated co-production by the Fondazione Teatro Lirico Giuseppe Verdi di Trieste, the Fondazione Teatro Comunale di Bologna and the Fondazione Lirico Sinfonica Petruzzelli e Teatri di Bari. The production recreates the celebrated stage designs and painted backdrops created by Mario Schifano for the Bari production in 1991, which were tragically destroyed in a fire later that same year. Faithfully reconstructed from the sketches of Italy’s leading Pop Art exponent, with the consent of the artist’s widow, they provide a unique and invaluable setting for the production directed by the acclaimed Tuscan actor and playwright Federico Tiezzi. The occasion also marks the welcome return of Jessica Pratt in the title role, alongside the outstanding voices of Stefan Pop, Raffaella Lupinacci and Carlo Lepore.
The subscription campaign will open on Tuesday 23 June 2026 and will run until Sunday 22 November 2026. Existing subscribers may renew their subscriptions until Saturday 12 September 2026, while new subscriptions will go on sale from Tuesday 22 September 2026. Single tickets for individual performances will go on sale on Tuesday 29 September 2026.