Festival Verdi Unveils 2027 Season: Dante, Abbado, Chung Lead Lineup

Festival Verdi has announced its 2027 season, running from October 1 through October 24, 2027, with five productions and events led by an international roster of conductors and directors.

The season's centerpiece is a new production of "La Traviata" staged by Emma Dante, with Michele Spotti conducting. Performances run from October 2 to October 24, 2027. The staging marks the only new production announced for the season and gives Verdi's most performed opera a fresh interpretive frame at the festival.

What else is on the program?

The season opens with "Aroldo," conducted by Roberto Abbado in a production by Daniele Menghini. The opera, one of Verdi's rarer revision works, plays from October 1 to October 16, 2027.

Gianluca Capuano conducts "Stiffelio" with Cecilia Ligorio directing, in performances from October 7 to October 23, 2027. The two operas join "La Traviata" to form the season's trio of staged productions, placing a revision opera ("Aroldo") alongside the original work it reworked ("Stiffelio").

Two concert events complete the lineup:

• Gala Verdiano — October 10, 2027, the festival's annual gala.
• Verdi's Requiem — October 15, 2027, conducted by Myung-Whun Chung.

Who is conducting?

The festival has assembled five conductors across the season. Michele Spotti takes "La Traviata," Roberto Abbado leads "Aroldo," Gianluca Capuano conducts "Stiffelio," and Myung-Whun Chung directs the Requiem.

The casting picture remains incomplete. The festival said casts will be announced at another date, leaving singers for all three staged productions and the concert events unconfirmed.

What does the schedule show?

The calendar concentrates the season's activity into the first three weeks of October. "Aroldo" opens the festival on October 1, followed by the "La Traviata" premiere on October 2. "Stiffelio" begins its run on October 7, meaning all three operas overlap in repertory during the middle of the month.

The Gala Verdiano on October 10 and the Requiem on October 15 fall within that overlap, giving festivalgoers up to five different programs to choose from across a single mid-October week.

With casting details still to come, the announcement sets the artistic framework of the 2027 season months ahead of opening night — and the promise of a new Emma Dante "Traviata" gives audiences a concrete reason to watch for the next round of names.