Teatro dell'Opera di Roma returns to the Baths of Caracalla this summer with its opera festival under the stars.

Rome's opera house will stage a diverse programme of events at its summer festival held among the ancient Roman ruins at the Baths of Caracalla, from 29 June to 7 August.

Under the title “Between the Sacred and the Human,” the 2025 edition of the Caracalla Festival will comprise a range of genres including opera, musicals, dance, sacred music and pop concerts.

The festival opens on the feast of Rome's patron saints Peter and Paul, with a special event linked to the Jubilee Year held in a new location in addition to the Baths of Caracalla: the Basilica of Maxentius in the Roman Forum.

The ancient venue, which dates to the fourth century, will host operatic productions for the first time, offering a "more intimate stage" according to the festival's director Damiano Michieletto.

Central to the 2025 programme are four new productions: Handel’s Resurrection (Basilica of Maxentius), Verdi’s La Traviata (Baths of Caracalla), Mozart’s Don Giovanni (Basilica of Maxentius) and Bernstein’s West Side Story (Baths of Caracalla), directed respectively by Ilaria Lanzino, Sláva Daubnerová, Vasily Barkhatov and Damiano Michieletto.

“Tra sacro e umano” è il titolo del Caracalla Festival 2025, ideato da Damiano Michieletto: 4 opere, 2 spettacoli di danza, concerti e incontri fra Caracalla e il nostro nuovo palcoscenico alla Basilica di Massenzio. Tutte le info qui: https://t.co/6c0oo8PEtV pic.twitter.com/Cla2lteASF

— Opera di Roma (@OperaRoma) January 15, 2025

The festival's dance section will see the opera house's Ballet Corps, directed by Eleonora Abbagnato, stage two contemporary classics: Ravel’s Bolero directed by Maurice Béjart and Stravinsky’s Le Sacre du printemps with the choreography of Pina Bausch.

Dance fans can also look forward to the traditional performance by Roberto Bolle and Friends.

Among the acts confirmed for the series of pop concerts, starting on 3 June, are Antonello Venditti, Alessandra Amoroso, Fiorella Mannoia and Giovanni Allevi.

The Caracalla Festival programme closes with La Pasión según San Marcos by Argentine composer Osvaldo Golijov, created in 2000 to mark the 250th anniversary of Bach’s death.

Tickets for the Caracalla Festival go on sale at the box office of the Teatro dell’Opera di Roma and online via Ticketone from 1 February.

For full programme details see Teatro dell'Opera di Roma website. Photo Fabrizio Sansoni.