Grande Opera Movie

‘THE GREAT ITALIAN OPERA HERITAGE OF HUMANITY’ was performed on 7 June 2024: an international event organised by the Ministry of Culture in collaboration with the Arena di Verona Foundation and Rai Cultura to celebrate the recognition of the art of Italian opera singing, which was awarded on 6 December by UNESCO.

The event had been announced in Sanremo last February, followed by the words of Undersecretary for Culture Gianmarco Mazzi and Superintendent Cecilia Gasdia:
‘The new century of the Arena Opera Festival opens with the worldwide celebration of the “Practice of Opera Singing in Italy” World Heritage, we could not have hoped for a better start - explained Cecilia Gasdia, Superintendent of the Arena Foundation - It will be a great honour to represent our greatest musical tradition on an international level, music builds bridges and breaks down barriers’.

‘This extraordinary and unexpected result excites me. It expresses all the popular strength of Italian opera,' said Undersecretary for Culture Gianmarco Mazzi.

The director Gaetano Morbioli, from Verona, who has been translating great Italian music into images with his video clips for more than 20 years, is also joining in the celebrations - and for this very special event he wanted to make a micro-film narrating the great operas staged at the Arena in Verona. From the imposing Egyptian evocations of the Aida of 1913, signed by Gianfranco de Bosio, to the flower garden of the Barber of Seville, imagined by Hugo de Ana: in little more than two minutes Morbioli recounts the excellence, creativity and history of the Arena di Verona Opera Festival, and of great Italian Opera as a whole.

‘The first time I saw the Opera in the Arena I was 17 years old and I had to film it for the local television station I worked for,’ Morbioli says. He adds: ‘Working for the music and telling it in pictures I discovered that Opera has a much higher value than music videos because it is a real live film made of drama, passion, tension, and emotions. Lately, working with American producers, I have become an indirect ambassador of the grandeur of our city, which for me is the world capital of opera and beauty. One of my wishes would be to document the Opera on a film level, which could be a manifestation of the much work done by the artists behind the scenes, with whom I was able to collaborate for the filming of the commercial and who do a decisive work for the success of the opera.’

The performance on 7 June was filmed and broadcast live worldwide by RAI 1, featuring the participation of Italy's most important conductors directing a staff of 154 professors and 300 chorus artists from Italian lyrical-symphonic foundations and prestigious international orchestras. Guest of honour Maestro Riccardo Muti.

Watch the show on RaiPlay here.

La Grande Opera Italiana

PRODUCED BY: Fondazione Arena di Verona, REALIZED BY: Run Production 
DIRECTION AND MONTAGE: Gaetano Morbioli 
MUSICAL DIRECTION AND COMPOSITING: Maestro Diego Basso 
LOCATION: Villa Arvedi, Verona

CAST
Edoardo Adamuccio, Joel Barbero, Francesca Benedetti, Vittorio Bentivoglio, Bianca Biondani, Pier Paolo Biondo, Michelangelo Brunelli, Federico Castelli, Linda Caucchioli, Elisa Cipriani, Gaetano Condello, Elia Corrone, Alessandro De Falco, Matteo Frazza, Alberto Guerrini, Eleonora Lattarico, Mara Lieina, Giancarla Malusardi, Roberta Maragno, Edoardo Meglioranzi, Luca Montresor, Alberto Morelato, Andrea Ongarelli, Chiara Ongarelli, Zarina Ospanova, Matteo Salvia, Alice Santinello, Anna Sow, Martina Tabarelli, Tommaso Pedone, Cristian Emmanuel Vega

RUN PRODUCTION
PRODUCTION MANAGER: Laura Castellotti, Federica Filippini, DOP: Graziano Guastella 
DIRECTING AID: Peter Facchetti, DATA MANAGER AND SCENE PHOTOGRAPHER: Alessandro Fontaniello 
FIRST CAMERA ASSISTANT: Alberto Gaspari, SECOND CAMERA ASSISTANT: Giovanni Franchi 
GAFFER: Lorenzo Massa Salluzzo, GRIP: Leonardo Verzeri, ELECTRICAL HELPER: Tommaso Dal Forno, TECHNICAL HELPER: Alessandro Caruso 
DRONE PILOT: Carlo Barbero, EDITING AND MASTERING: Ava Sound live music, SOUND ENGINEER: Simone Castellan, 
VFX, 3D COMPOSITING, COLOR CORRECTION: Gaetano Morbioli 
RENTAL: Oki Doki, SERVICE COORDINATOR: Alessandro Di Cio, TECHNICAL SUPPORT: Trans Audio, SPECIAL THANKS: Count Paolo Arvedi 
Canon Italia, Matteo Robazza and Marco Brighel for support Sony Cine Alta Venice 
CATERING: Claudio Loro, Marius Nedelea, HORSE RACING: Centro Ippico di Salvia Vito 
FACING: Landi Hila, Erald Dervishi, Emiljano Gjoni, Neritan Brakaj, Mane Tosca, Shkelzen Kamxhiu, Daniel Emitse Paul

FONDAZIONE ARENA DI VERONA
SCENE DIRECTOR: Michele Olcese, SCENE DIRECTION ASSISTANT (DAS): Alessia Colosso 
ORGANISATIONAL SECRETARIAT (DAS): Lavinia Scalori, D.A.S.: Giorgio Pascucci, Ilaria Verzè, STAGE STAGE TECHNICIAN: Roberto Casalino 
EQUIPMENT STAGE MAKER: Alberto Reppele, ELECTRICISTS DEPARTMENT MANAGER: Sergio Toffali, AV Foundation Scenography Workshops 
COSTUME DIRECTOR: Silvia Bonetti, VICE CHIEF DIRECTOR: Gicoradi Sara, CHIEF DRESSOR: Mazzi Francesca 
DRESSMAKERS: Cima Armida, Rossit Ilenia, Kashale Mimi, SHOESMITH: Rizzi Andrea, ARTWORKER: Rossi Maurizio 
COSTUME ASSISTANTS: Nascimbeni Eleonora, Gennati Andrea, Brichese Anna 
MAKEUP AND PARRY COSTUME ART LAB, ART DIRECTOR: Francesco Morabito  
HAIRSTYLE AND HAIRDRESSER RESPONSIBLE: Natasha Mazzelli, HAIRDRESSER: Patrizia Di Francescantonio  
HAIRSTYLES: Sofia Motta, Sofia Molinaro, Lavinia Topor