Beginning in 1935 there were a number of failed attempts at downtown projects that would include, in various configurations, an opera house, sports arena, concert hall, museum and convention center.
Epic summer opera at the Roman arena in Verona (with a capacity of 150,000) has been a staple for nearly a century in Italy.
Northern Italy is bearing the brunt of a wet and thundery summer in the bel paese that is flooding towns, emptying beaches – and, crucially, playing havoc with outdoor opera at the Verona arena.
On an afternoon of fevered sporting opera in the North Greenwich arena there was drama right at the last in the individual all-round on Thursday, the showpiece event of women's Olympic gymnastics.
Arena di Verona June 30 to Sept. 3 At the 78th festival in Verona, Giuseppe Verdi, who was 87 when he died of a stroke at the Grand Hotel in Milan on Jan . 27 , 1901is being honored with the presentation of four of his operas in the Roman Arena, built in the first century B.C. Three of the operas -- "Nabucco," "La Forza del Destino" and "La Traviata" -- are offered in new productions.
Continuing to act as a beacon, to shine, to lead the way as a global, '24-hour city', depends as much on our attitude and treatment of our Night Time Economy as it does our view of our parks, opera houses, museums, sports arenas and concert halls.
-- Once stigmatized as a rough neighborhood, this city's downtown has turned around in the last decade, when a new opera hall, museums, a hockey arena and a convention center began attracting suburban residents taking advantage of a growing light-rail system.
What better way to experience the many layers of the history of Italy than to see Italian operas in a 1st century arena located in the heart of the city of Verona?
A picture caption on July 17 with an article about Gerard Mortier, artistic director of the Teatro Real in Madrid, misidentified one of the performers in the six-hour opera he staged in a sports arena outside the city.
