As per tradition, 2026 will be inaugurated by the highly anticipated New Year’s Concert at the Teatro La Fenice in Venice, an event which this year has reached its 23rd edition.
From “Nessun dorma” to “Casta Diva”, passing through “Va’ pensiero” and the inevitable toast from “Traviata”: it will be a journey through the great classics of the Italian opera tradition. The concert will be broadcast on Thursday 1 January at 12.20pm live on Rai 1. And for those who want to catch up on it later, two repeats are scheduled: on Rai 5 on the same day, at 9.20pm and again on Sunday 4 January at 8.00am.
An immersion in Italian melodrama
Michele Mariotti will lead the Orchestra and Choir of the Teatro La Fenice this year, making his debut on the podium of the Venetian institution. The orchestra conductor from Pesaro, awarded the 36th Abbiati Prize, currently holds the role of Musical Director of the Teatro dell’Opera di Roma.
Next to him on stage we will see the soprano Rosa Feola and the American tenor Jonathan Tetelman, engaged in arias and duets taken from works by Puccini, Rossini and Ponchielli. As for the dance performances. are entrusted to the Étoiles Eleonora Abbagnato and Friedemann Vogel, who together with Étoiles, Principal Dancers and soloists of the Teatro dell’Opera di Roma are engaged in the choreography of Diego Tortelli, while the TV direction is by Claudia De Toma.
Among the evocative pieces on the program, choral moments also stand out, such as the closed-mouth chorus of the second act from Puccini’s “Madama Butterfly” and “Feste! Pane! Feste!” taken from Ponchielli’s Mona Lisa, and symphonic, such as the interludes from Mascagni’s “Guglielmo Ratcliff” and “Cavalleria Rusticana”.
In addition to the most famous arias, the solo voices are also entrusted with “Sombre forêt”, Matilde’s aria from the second act of Rossini’s “Guglielmo Tell”, performed by Feola, and “Cielo e mar”, Enzo Grimaldo’s aria again from Ponchielli’s “Gioconda”, sung by Tetelman. There is no shortage of duets, again with Puccini, including “O soave fanciulla” from “La bohème”.
An unmissable concert for those who love the history of Italian music.
