Opera stars sing in world's largest open-air theatre.

Italy is to stage a gala concert at the Verona Arena on Friday night to celebrate the inclusion of Italian opera singing on the UNESCO list of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

The concert, organised by Italy's culture ministry, will feature some of the world's greatest opera singers including Anna Netrebko, Jonas Kaufmann and Eleonora Buratto, alongside dancers Roberto Bolle and Nicoletta Manni.

Riccardo Muti will conduct 160 orchestra musicians and more than 300 choristers from prestigious Italian institutes performing arias from Guglielmo Tell, Norma, Nabucco, Macbeth, Mephistopheles and Manon Lescaut.

Friday, June 7, at 8:35 PM, worldwide broadcast on @RaiUno

Italy celebrates the inclusion of the practice of Opera Singing in @UNESCO 's list of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, with an extraordinary evening at the Arena di Verona pic.twitter.com/W4RB51O4ml

— Italy at UNESCO (@ItalyatUNESCO) June 7, 2024

The evening will also feature performances of some of the most famous opera pieces by famed Italian composers Puccini, Rossini, Bellini, Donizetti, Verdi, Mascagni, Leoncavallo and Giordano.

The star-studded event in the ancient Roman arena, the largest open-air theatre in the world, will be broadcast live worldwide by Italian state broadcaster RAI from 20.30.

For full details see the culture ministry website.