Its perfect acoustics, harmonious proportions, prestigious history that dates back nearly 200 years together with the greatness of the artists who have walked its boards make the Teatro Regio di Parma one of the most internationally recognized and famous opera houses in the world.
Commissioned by Duchess Maria Luigia, wife of Napoleon Bonaparte, the Teatro Regio inaugurated on 16 May 1829 with Zaira, opera composed for the occasion by Vincenzo Bellini and since then it witnesses its lasting bond with the city that presents outstanding music geniuses who were born and worked in these lands, including
Giuseppe Verdi,
Arturo Toscanini and
Nicolò Paganini.
Awarded "
Best Festival" at the 2017
International Opera Awards in London, Festival Verdi is the cornerstone of the Teatro Regio. Since 2001 it is the focal point for the theatre's production efforts and a showcase for its media exposure. Each autumn, around Giuseppe Verdi's birthday on 10th October, a full month of music, opera, exhibitions and conferences to celebrate the Maestro in his two hometowns of Parma and Busseto attracts
spectators coming from all 5 continents, sharing the festive atmosphere of
Verdi Off (Festival Verdi's carnival of side-events, with more than 130 freeentry events, 50 functions in 30 different locations) that embrace and contagiously engage those who live in or visit the Maestro's lands and the surrounding region during Festival Verdi.
The Season develops throughout the year intertwining Operas with titles from the great repertoire alongside ones that are more rarely heard with Concerts which sees performances by soloists and ensembles of international standing, with ParmaDanza which hosts étoile and companies of international fame, and with RegioYoung, a real theatrical season for schools and families, with performances aimed at children, students, and teachers, linked by the thread of musical theatre, and including workshops in the lead up to performances and new operatic productions that are commissioned each year to a composer and a creative team of international renown artists.
