“Conductor Beatrice Venezi also made a surprise appearance amongst the figures from the worlds of culture and entertainment.”.
(Adnkronos – 13 June 2026) Twelve minutes of uninterrupted applause at 1 am marked the triumph of the new production of Giuseppe Verdi’s *La Traviata*, which opened the 103rd Opera Festival on the evening of Friday 12 June, in front of a sold-out Arena di Verona with 12,000 spectators. A long, swelling, almost overwhelming ovation transformed the season’s debut into an event of great artistic and media impact. The audience greeted the new production, directed by the Scottish director Paul Curran, with unanimous enthusiasm, hailing it as one of the most spectacular Arena productions of recent years…
The highlight of the evening was Areniano’s debut by the 28-year-old soprano Martina Russomanno, who enjoyed a deeply moving personal triumph. Her Violetta Valéry won over the opening-night audience with a performance deemed compelling for its stage presence and vocal strength, culminating in a standing ovation. Twelve minutes of applause also marked her symbolic consecration at the Arena, on an evening in which the female lead was one of its most striking emotional focal points. Alongside her was the tenor Yusif Eyvazov in the role of Alfredo Germont. Giorgio Germont was voiced by Amartuvshin Enkhbat, whilst Anne Werle played Flora Bervoix and Francesca Maionchi took on the role of Annina….
The opening night was attended by a large number of guests institutional figures, welcomed by the Mayor of Verona, Damiano Tommmasi, and prominent figures from the worlds of culture and entertainment, underlining the event’s social dimension. Among them were the Minister for Tourism, Gianmarco Mazzi; the Minister for Enterprise and ‘Made in Italy’, Adolfo Urso; the President of the Chamber of Deputies, Lorenzo Fontana; and the former Minister for the Economy and Finance, Pier Carlo Padoan, now Chairman of UniCredit. Conductor Beatrice Venezi also made a surprise appearance. Other well-known faces included Rocío Muñoz Morales, Martina Colombari, Billy Costacurta, Elena Sofia Ricci, Arianna Fontana, Martina Stella, Violante Placido, Tommaso Cassissa, Paolo Stella, Alessandro Preziosi, Cristiana Capotondi, journalist Beppe Severgnini and art historian Jacopo Veneziani.
