(Credit: Teatro Real, Royal Opera House/Bill Cooper/Salzburg Festival)

With the year coming to an end, four major Italian opera houses are set to open their 2024-25 seasons. As customary the Italian opera calendar opens in late November or early December. So here is a look at what to expect from these four famed theaters.

Teatro La Fenice 

The Venice Theater opens with a new production of Verdi’s late masterpiece “Otello.” Fabio Ceresa
directs while Myung-Whun Chung conducts. The cast is led by Francesco Meli, who is known for his Verdi interpretations and makes his role debut in one of the most challenging roles in the repertoire. Luca Micheletti, Karah Son, and Francesco Marsiglia round out the lead cast.

Dates: Nov. 20-Dec. 1, 2024

Teatro San Carlo 

The Napoli Theater will open with a new production of Dvořák’s “Rusalka.” Asmik Grigorian, who has performed the role to great acclaim at the Royal Opera House and Teatro Real, will sing the title role in her house debut. She will be joined by Adam Smith, also in his house debut, Ekaterina Gubanova, and Gabor Bretz in his house debut. Anita Rachvelishvili will round out the cast in her great return to the stage. Dan Ettinger conducts the new production Dmitri Tcherniakov.

Dates: Nov. 20-Dec. 7, 2024

Teatro dell’Opera di Roma

The Rome theater will open with Verdi’s “Simon Boccanegra” with Luca Salsi, one of the great Verdi baritones of our time, in the title role. He will be joined by Eleonora Buratto, Michele Pertusi, and Stefan Pop. A second cast will include Claudio Sgura, Maria Motolygina, Dmitri Ulyanov, and Anthony Ciaramitaro.  Michele Mariotti conducts the new production by Richard Jones. 

Dates: Nov. 27-Dec 5, 2024

Teatro alla Scala

It all comes to a close with the Milanese theater’s famed opening night on the Feast of St Ambrose. This season the company will open with Verdi’s “La Forza del Destino” in a new production by Leo Muscato. Riccardo Chailly conducts a star-studded cast led by Anna Netrebko, Jonas Kaufmann, and Ludovic Tézier, all of whom performed the work together at the Royal Opera House. They will be joined by Vasilisa Berzhanskaya, Alexander Vinogradov, and Marco Filippo Romano. A second cast will perform the work led by Elena Stikhina, Amartuvshin Enkhbat, Luciano Ganci, and Simon Lim.

Dates: Dec. 7, 2024-Jan. 2, 2025