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From 1 to 24 October 2027, Parma and Busseto celebrate the music and dramatic imagination of Giuseppe Verdi at the 27th edition of Festival Verdi. Centred on the theme La colpa e il perdono (Guilt and Forgiveness), the festival explores the clash between personal desire, social conventions and moral judgement through three operas written during a pivotal period in Verdi’s creative development.
A highlight of the season is Aroldo, performed at the Teatro Regio in Parma on 1, 9 and 16 October. This rarely staged work returns to the theatre after 170 years and makes its first appearance at Festival Verdi. The new production is conducted by Roberto Abbado and directed by Daniele Menghini, offering audiences an opportunity to discover a lesser-known chapter of the composer’s operatic legacy.
Stiffelio, presented at the Teatro Giuseppe Verdi in Busseto on 7, 17, 21 and 23 October, provides a fascinating counterpart to Aroldo. Conducted by Gianluca Capuano and directed by Cecilia Ligorio, this new production invites audiences to explore Verdi’s treatment of faith, reputation, marital conflict and the possibility of forgiveness.
The festival’s best-known title is La traviata, returning after more than a decade. Performances at the Teatro Regio are scheduled for 2, 8, 14 and 24 October. The new staging is directed by Emma Dante, with Michele Spotti conducting. Violetta’s tragic story of love, sacrifice and social exclusion brings the festival’s central theme into particularly poignant focus.
The programme also features the Gala Verdiano on 10 October and Verdi’s monumental Messa da Requiem on 15 October. Beyond the opera house, the wider cultural programme includes Ramificazioni, connecting Verdi’s heritage with other artistic languages, and Verdi OFF, which brings performances and events into the streets and public spaces of Parma and the surrounding area. The Verdi Street Parade is scheduled for 18 September.
With a rare opera, a compelling pairing of related works and one of the world’s most beloved operatic masterpieces, Festival Verdi 2027 offers a rich encounter with the composer’s music in the places most closely associated with his life and legacy.
About the Festival Verdi
The Verdi Festival is an important Italian opera music festival. It is held every year in October (the month of Verdi 's birth ) in Parma, Busseto and in Verdi's lands.
The Festival was founded in the mid -1980s and ran until 1993 . In 2001 it was reintroduced on the occasion of the National Celebrations of the Verdian Centenary and proposed annually in the late spring period; since 2007 it takes place in October.
The Festival does not consist only of operas but also of concerts, recitals and other genres of entertainment which take place in Reggio Emilia, Fidenza, Fontanellato, Fontevivo, Torrechiara, Genoa and Parma and Busseto themselves.
The traditional venue for the Verdi Festival is several famous stage venues - the Royal Theater of Parma, the Giuseppe Verdi Theater in Busseto and the Farnese Theater in Parma. The festival program includes the most prestigious concerts and events dedicated to the anniversary of Verdi's birth. And on each of the evenings, new and classic versions of such famous operas by maestro Verdi as "Aida", "Othello", "Falstaff", "La Traviata", "Rigoletto", "Macbeth", "Joan of Arc" and "Il trovatore".
In addition, in Parma itself, for the entertainment of numerous lovers of classical music, walking routes and tours of historical places related to the life and work of the musician are specially organized.
