President Mattarella attends production of Rigoletto under the stars in Rome.

Rome's opera house, Teatro dell'Opera di Roma, staged the premiere of a new production of Giuseppe Verdi's Rigoletto in the Circus Maximus last night, 16 July.

Guest of honour was Italy's president Sergio Mattarella who was met with applause from the audience, all of whom wore masks and were seated according to social distancing rules.

• Rome opera under the stars at Circus Maximus

Also in attendance were the presidents of the chamber of deputies and the senate, Roberto Fico and Maria Elisabetta Alberti Casellati, along with several government ministers, Rome's mayor Virginia Raggi, British actor Ralph Fiennes, and the ambassadors of France, Germany, Spain, the UK and the US.

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The open-air production, directed by Damiano Michieletto and conducted by Daniele Gatti, was televised live on RAI5. It will run until 20 July.

For details of the summer opera programme see Teatro dell'Opera di Roma website.

Photo Yasuko Kageyama / TOR