Baths of Caracalla not suited as opera venue due to Italy's social distancing measures to contain coronavirus.

Rome's opera house, Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, has made the widely-expected decision to cancel its summer season at the Baths of Caracalla due to the covid-19 crisis.

All performances scheduled for this summer season will be moved to the 2021 season, with this year's tickets valid for next summer season. New dates and details are available on Teatro dell'Opera website.

Carlo Fuortes, the general manager of the capital's opera house, said recently that the historic Caracalla venue was "incompatible" with the new social distancing rules required under Italy's Phase Two plan in dealing with the coronavirus.

The rescheduled performances include concerts by Claudio Baglioni and Andrea Bocelli, and ballet by Roberto Bolle and Friends. An update regarding the Cat Stevens show is expected soon.

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The departure from Terme di Caracalla - which has hosted Rome's summer opera programme since the 1930s - comes as Fuortes announced a move to another open-air venue in central Rome: Villa Borghese.

The Rome opera house is planning to stage an outdoor production of Verdi's Rigoletto in the park's Piazza di Siena, a venue best known for hosting show-jumping championships.

Under Italy's new social distancing regulations, a maximum of 1,000 people would be able to attend Rigoletto which will be conducted by Daniele Gatti.

The public will be assigned seats and nobody will be standing, said Fuortes, whose tenure as head of Teatro dell'Opera di Roma was extended by five years last month.

During a challenging time for opera and the performing arts, Rome's opera house received some welcome news in recent days, in the form of a three-year sponsorship deal from Banca di Fucino. For details see website.