From opera and ballet to concerts and special events, there is something for everyone. Here is Teatro dell’Opera di Roma’s 2026-27 season.

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Teatro dell’Opera di Roma has gained an increase in international prestige over the years, hosting performances by world-renowned artists such as Caruso, Gigli, Del Monaco, Maria Callas, Renata Tebaldi, Montserrat Caballé and Raina Kabaivanska, as well as acclaimed orchestra conductors Toscanini, De Sabata, Klemperer, Abbado and the Master Riccardo Muti since 2008. And the 2026-27 season is no exception.

The new season takes its title from a line in Lucia di Lammermoor, “il dolce suono mi colpì” (“the sweet sound struck me”), and spans almost three centuries of music: from Gluck’s 18th century to the 20th century of Stravinsky, Shostakovich, Bartók and Bernstein, by way of Verdi, Donizetti, Puccini, Rossini and Giordano, all the way to a world premiere by Nicola Sani.

The new season at Teatro dell’Opera di Roma offers 12 new productions across opera and dance, with 9 operas, 2 operas in concert, 7 ballets (one performed by students of the Ballet School), 3 special events and 2 tours by the Ballet Company. Performances are split between the Teatro Costanzi, the Teatro Nazionale and the Teatro Valle, which reopens this year.

The dance program ranges from great classics such as Swan Lake, Don Quixote and a new Raymonda to leading names in contemporary choreography, including John Neumeier, Wayne McGregor, Alexander Ekman and Sharon Eyal. Guest stars include Marianela Nuñez, Daniil Simkin, Vadim Muntagirov and, for the first time at the Costanzi, Alina Cojocaru.

Also on the program are special events and concerts spanning music, dance and theatre, from one-night-only performances by Anna Netrebko and Cecilia Bartoli to an Easter concert in Orvieto Cathedral. The season will culminate, as every year, with the .

INSPIRATION

The new Opera di Roma season opens, as usual, on November 27, this time under the sign of Stravinsky. The Rake’s Progress returns to the Costanzi after 58 years in a new production conducted by Music Director Michele Mariotti and directed by Spanish director Rafael R. Villalobos, making his Rome debut. Further performances run from November 29 to December 5, and the production is broadcast by Rai Cultura.

Umberto Giordano’s Andrea Chénier (January 17 to 26, 2027) returns in Marco Bellocchio’s production, with Daniel Oren on the podium. Sonya Yoncheva, Brian Jagde and Ludovic Tézier lead the cast, alternating with Angela Meade, Gregory Kunde and Ariunbatar Ganbaatar.

A new production of Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor (February 21 to 28) is staged by American choreographer Karole Armitage, making her Costanzi debut, with sets and costumes by Daniela Ciancio. Giacomo Sagripanti conducts. Jessica Pratt sings Lucia, alternating with Gilda Fiume, while Edgardo is sung by Xabier Anduaga and René Barbera.

Verdi’s I due Foscari (March 13 to 21) returns in Pier Luigi Pizzi’s 2001 production, reimagined for the occasion. Riccardo Frizza conducts, with Nicola Alaimo making his role debut as Francesco Foscari alongside Marta Torbidoni and Kang Wang.

Robert Carsen returns to the Costanzi with Gluck’s Iphigénie en Tauride (April 18 to 27), absent from Rome for 40 years, in the production first seen at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées. Alessandro De Marchi conducts, with Axelle Fanyo in the title role.

Shostakovich’s Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District (May 14 to 22) is staged at the Costanzi for the first time in its history, in Barrie Kosky’s production for the Komische Oper Berlin. Juraj Valčuha conducts, with Olesya Golovneva and Dmitry Ulyanov in the leading roles.

A new production of Verdi’s Il trovatore (June 22 to July 1) is directed by Daniele Menghini and conducted by Nicola Luisotti, both making their Rome Opera debuts. The cast includes Marina Rebeka and Vasilisa Berzhanskaya (Leonora), Vittorio Grigolo and Angelo Villari (Manrico), Ekaterina Semenchuk (Azucena) and George Petean (Count di Luna).

After 26 years, Puccini’s La rondine (September 18 to 26) returns in a new production by Andrea Bernard conducted by Francesco Lanzillotta, with Ermonela Jaho and Francesco Meli as Magda and Ruggero.

The opera season closes with Rossini’s La Cenerentola (October 1 to 10), directed by Mario Martone and conducted by Michele Mariotti, in a co-production with the Abu Dhabi Festival. It is staged at the Teatro Valle, where the opera premiered in 1817, in the year the theatre reopens. Angelina is sung by Ekaterine Buachidze, a graduate of the “Fabbrica” Young Artist Program, alongside Dave Monaco, Paolo Bordogna, Pietro Spagnoli and Luca Tittoto. This production is also broadcast by Rai Cultura.

The 2026-27 dance season opens with Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake, on stage at the Costanzi over the holidays from December 17 to 31 in Benjamin Pech’s choreography, conducted by Ido Arad. Fumi Kaneko dances Odette/Odile, while Vadim Muntagirov and Paul Marque, Étoile of the Paris Opera Ballet, alternate as Siegfried.

From February 4 to 10, 2027, John Neumeier returns to the Costanzi with Third Symphony of Gustav Mahler, a new production for which he also designs the sets, costumes and lighting. Simon Hewett conducts. Alina Cojocaru, former Principal Dancer of the Royal Ballet, guests in three performances, her first on the Rome stage.

From March 31 to April 4, the triple bill Motus brings together three leading names in contemporary choreography: Nicolas Blanc’s From Afar, set to music by Ezio Bosso, Wayne McGregor’s Borderlands, his first work at the Costanzi, and Alexander Ekman’s Fit.

Minkus’s Don Quixote (June 4 to 11) returns in Laurent Hilaire’s choreography, conducted by Martin Yates. Marianela Nuñez and Patricio Revé dance Kitri and Basilio on June 4 and 6, with Madeleine Woo and Daniil Simkin on June 8 and 10.

The season closes from October 6 to 13 with a new production of Raymonda, set to Glazunov’s score, choreographed by Jean-Guillaume Bart and featuring students of the Ballet School. Nicolas André conducts. The production is broadcast by Rai Cultura.

Two operas in concert and three special events complete the program.

December 4, 2026, Teatro Costanzi. Anna Netrebko sings Judith in Bartók’s Bluebeard’s Castle, with bass Alexander Köpeczi and the Hungarian Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Henrik Nánási. The program also includes Liszt’s Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 and Piano Concerto No. 1, with soloist Misi Boros.

March 3, 2027, Orvieto Cathedral. Michele Mariotti conducts the Orchestra of the Teatro dell’Opera di Roma in Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater, with Emőke Baráth and Sara Mingardo. The concert is broadcast by Rai.

March 18, 2027, Teatro Costanzi. The Orchestra Nazionale Barocca dei Conservatori, conducted by Ignazio Maria Schifani, plays Beethoven’s Symphony No. 1 on period instruments, marking the bicentenary of the composer’s death, alongside two unpublished concertos by Ranieri Nanni in their first modern performance.

April 21, 2027, Teatro Costanzi. In dialogue with Iphigénie en Tauride, Sergio Rubini performs Piccinni e Gluck, una corona per due, a theatre piece by Valerio Cappelli about the famous rivalry that divided late 18th-century Paris.

May 27, 2027, Teatro Costanzi. Cecilia Bartoli returns as Rosina in Rossini’s Il barbiere di Siviglia, exactly forty years after first singing the role at the Rome Opera. She is joined by Les Musiciens du Prince-Monaco conducted by Gianluca Capuano and the Rome Opera Chorus.

A second season runs alongside the Costanzi’s at the Teatro Nazionale, with titles focused on new work and the next generation of artists.

November 24 to December 3, 2026. Students of the Ballet School perform Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker in Paul Chalmer’s choreography.

December 18 to 23, 2026. Bernstein’s Peter Pan is staged for the first time in Italy, with Luca Micheletti as both director and performer.

January 23 to 27, 2027. Le Cenerentole features artists from the “Fabbrica” Young Artist Program and the Rome Opera Children’s Chorus, directed by Antonella Lo Bianco. The show is also designed for schools.

April 20 to 24, 2027. The triple bill Echoes brings together Rafael Bonachela, Sharon Eyal and Diego Tortelli, who creates the new piece PINK FLOYD’s DIAMONDS.

May 19 to 26, 2027. World premiere of Nicola Sani’s Code: Unknown, with a libretto by Franco Ripa di Meana, who also directs. Marco Angius conducts. The opera tells the story of a man and a boy separated by a form of neurodivergence, and is accompanied by an accessibility program for autistic people.

May 23, 2027. Marking 35 years since the Capaci and Via D’Amelio massacres, Gery Palazzotto’s È ancora troppo presto revisits some of the darkest chapters in Italian history, directed and narrated by Isabella Ragonese, with music by Rodrigo D’Erasmo.

In summer 2026, while restoration works were underway at the , the Rome Opera House moved its summer festival to the Circo Massimo. From June 29 to July 31, the program brought together opera, ballet, cinema and symphonic music under the Roman night sky, with highlights including Aida, Roberto Bolle and Friends, Romeo e Giulietta, Carmina Burana and The Gladiator in Concert.

The program and venue for summer 2027 will be announced in the coming months. .

Teatro Costanzi

Piazza Beniamino Gigli

For the full program: 

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