Cultural Italy Administrator

Cultural Italy Administrator

The Venice Carnival

Venice Carnival Party

COSTUMED PARTIES
Venice is a magical city, and at no time is this more true than during the two weeks leading up to Mardi Gras, when the historical city celebrates the Carnival of Venice, a tradition first recorded over 700 years ago. Ordinary Venice is exciting, but Venice during the Carnival is spellbinding, with a historically rich mixture of performance and dining, and, of course, the magnificent costumes, including the extravagant masks for which Venice is so famous.

Teatro Massimo Palermo Opera Theater

Teatro Massimo Palermo

OPERA, BALLET & CONCERT SEASON
This opera house was dedicated to King Victor Emanuel II and is the largest in Italy. Italian architect Giovan Battista Filippo Basile designed and oversaw the construction in 1864. What inspired Basile was ancient and classical Sicilian architecture, so the exterior is reminiscent of the Greek temples at Selinunte and Agrigento.

La Scala Opera Theater Milano

Teatro alla Scala

OPERA, BALLET & CONCERT SEASON
Also known as La Scala, the Teatro alla Scala was inaugurated on August 3, 1778 and was originally known as the Nuovo Regio Ducale Teatro alla Scala (New Royal-Ducal Theatre alla Scala). The premiere opera was Antonio Salieri's 'Europa Riconosciuta'.

The Puccini Opera Festival

Puccini Festival La Boheme

SUMMER OPERA FESTIVAL
The Puccini Festival, Torre del Lago
Tickets & Calendar of Events
This opera festival takes place every summer in Torre del Lago, the home town of Giacomo Puccini. Torre del Lago lies between the Lake of Massaciuccoli and the Tyrrhenian Sea, 4 kilometers far from the magnificent beaches of Viareggio on the Tuscan Riviera, 18 kilometers from Lucca and Pisa. The Festival welcomes about 40.000 spectators every year to its open-air theatre, just a few steps from the Villa Mausoleum where Giacomo Puccini lived and worked.