To be in Verona for an opera evening at “Arena,” it is always a great treat, but it was more so last night for the second to last performance of “La Traviata.”

Verona’s gracious architecture, the vast Piazza Bra with its imposing amphitheater lit up for the summer opera program fills you up with excitement !

On June 21 on the night of the premiére, the artists, the management and all the workers of the Festival united in a tribute to Franco Zeffirelli who died on June 15.

This year there were a lot of expectations for “La Traviata,” by the late director Franco Zeffirelli who died just a few days before the “premiére!”

This blockbuster exhibition is among the most ambitious ever created by the Arena di Verona foundation. It crowns the dream of the Florentine master after 60 years of work on the Verdi masterpiece.

Zeffirelli’s Work at Arena of Verona

The great Florentine master, whose previous productions are still part of the Arena repertoire, has already been the “creator of dreams” par excellence in the Arena. Zeffirelli has been since 1995 with Carmen, Il Trovatore, Aida, Madama Butterfly, Turandot and Don Giovanni.

He brought a spectacular cinematic dimension to the theater. Just as it has enriched theatrical intensity through love and long and glorious experience in prose and opera.

Once more Zeffirelli didn’t disappoint the public expectations. It was a three-hour representation of detailed scenes, accurate costumes, and colorful ballet.

There was a long standing ovation to farewell the great artist that was Franco Zeffirelli.