Baths of Caracalla hosts summer opera festival under the stars.

Rome's opera house, Teatro dell'Opera di Roma, will stage more than 60 events at its summer festival among the ancient Roman ruins at the Baths of Caracalla.

The Caracalla Festival 2024 spans 60 evenings from 3 June until 10 August and incorporates a range of genres including opera, symphonic music, dance, theatre, cinema and pop concerts.

The programme of events take place under the stars at the 4,500-seat arena and the Teatro del Portico in the area of the Temple of Jupiter, and will pay tribute to the great composer Puccini on the centenary of his death.

Francesco Giambrone, superintendent of the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma, said that last year's record 115,000 admissions encouraged organisers of the festival to add extra dates and broaden the scope of the multidisciplinary event.

Il Caracalla Festival 2024 celebra Giacomo Puccini nel centenario della sua scomparsa con due nuove produzioni di Tosca e Turandot, al centro di un calendario ricchissimo di eventi. I biglietti sono già in vendita sul nostro sito e su Ticketone pic.twitter.com/NcJVUiCV95

— Opera di Roma (@OperaRoma) April 5, 2024

"To celebrate the centenary of Puccini’s death, we have commissioned the architect Massimiliano Fuksas with the creative project of both operas on the programme, Tosca and Turandot" - Giambrone said - "Fuksas has created for us a tailor-made installation especially designed for the space of the Teatro Grande in Caracalla, with Francesco Micheli as music director."

In addition to Tosca (5 July-9 August) and Turandot (16 July-10 August), the opera programme will feature three events: Regnava nel silenzio (26 June), a tribute to the music of Verdi and Donizetti with singers from the ‘Fabbrica’ young artists project, and two concerts by the Scuola di Canto Corale on 28 June and 8 July.

• Water returns to Baths of Caracalla after 1,500 years

The dance programme opens with Le notti romane di Dior (9-10 July), a performance that combines fashion, music and dance starring Eleonora Abbagnato along with the étoile, principal dancers, soloists and the Corps de Ballet of the Rome Opera.

The traditional Roberto Bolle and Friends event also returns to Caracalla on 19 and 20 July.

The festival pays homage to Walt Disney with a one-off symphonic concert on 23 July. Timothy Brock will conduct the Orchestra dell'Opera di Roma performing some of the highlights from the Disney film Fantasia (1940) and its sequel Fantasia 2000, along with the screening of some scenes from the animated classic.

On 30 July, Wayne Marshall, in the double capacity of pianist and conductor, will celebrate the centenary of George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue, along with a selection of pieces from Porgy and Bess, An American in Paris, the overture from the musical Girl Crazy, and the suite Three Dance Episodes from Leonard Bernstein’s On the Town.

Dancing on water. Rome inaugurates a new reflective pool at the Baths of Caracalla with a ballet set to Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue. pic.twitter.com/tAnP2BefqQ

— Wanted in Rome (@wantedinrome) April 13, 2024

Puccini will be celebrated with two theatre performances and a three-night film festival, while a novelty this year, on 25 and 26 June, will be the blucinQue company performing the Puccini Dance Circus Opera.

The festival includes a series of pop concerts: Fiorella Mannoia (3-4 June), Francesco De Gregori and Checco Zalone (5 and 9 June), Ornella Vanoni (6 June), Samuele Bersani (7 June), Il Volo (8 June), John Legend (10 June), Pooh (11 and 12 June), Biagio Antonacci (13 and 14 June), Antonello Venditti (18, 19 and 21 June) and Umberto Tozzi (20 June).

There are also two jazz concerts on 18 July and 5 August, and three evenings of Late night jazz on 31 July, 2 and 3 August.

Another novelty this year will be exclusive guided tours at sunset which can be purchased in combination with tickets for opera or ballet performances scheduled for the same evening, by contacting promozione.pubblico@operaroma.it.

Tickets for the performances range from €10 to €120 and are on sale at the box office of the Teatro dell’Opera of Rome and online via Ticketone.

For full programme of Caracalla Festival 2024 see Teatro dell'Opera di Roma website.