Opera Tickets Italy

On 6 January 2025, a New Year’s Gala Concert will take place in Florence. Staged at the Teatro Aurora in Scandicci, part of southern Florence, this gala concert includes some of the most beautiful Viennese waltzes to have ever been written plus some exceptional polkas from that era. In addition, arias and duets from the best of the Italian operatic tradition will feature.

Performing the music is the highly regarded CorOrchestra di Cortona, an ensemble with a burgeoning international reputation following successful tours in Europe. The orchestra is under the musical directorship of maestro Álvaro Lozano, a Spanish-born baritone singer and conductor. His past work includes singing roles in L’Elisir d’amore by Gaetano Donizetti at the Teatro Goldoni, Maggio Musicale Fiorentino in Florence and Così fan tutte by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart at Padua's Cesare Pollini Auditorium, among others. Aside from his work with the CorOrchestra di Cortona, Lozano serves as the musical director of the All'Opera project at Florence's opera house.

This wonderful gala event begins with a rendition of Donauwalzer composed by Johann Strauss II in 1866. Often referred to simply as The Blue Danube, it was first performed on 15 February 1867 at the Dianabadsaal (Diana Bath Hall), a concert venue in Vienna. It has since gone on to symbolise much of Viennese culture of that time. The second piece on the programme is the ever-popular Radetzky Marsch. Written by Johann Strauss I, it debuted on 31 August 1848. The next featured composer is Johann Strauss II once more, this time in a work he wrote with his brother, Josef Strauss. Their delightful Pizzicato Polka, which was first presented in 1869, is noted for its whimsical style and considerable focus on plucked strings.

After that, the programme shifts to a more operatic tradition. The overture for Die Fledermaus – The Bat to give it its English title – comes next. It was also written by Strauss the Younger and was first performed at the Theater an der Wien, along with the rest of the opera, on 5 April 1874. It has since become a hugely popular piece of music in its own right. The same can also be said of Gioachino Rossini's overture to The Barber of Seville, the next piece of music to feature at this New Year extravaganza. It has also been an enduring hit with audiences since its premiere which took place on 20 February 1816 at Rome's Teatro Argentina. The concert concludes with some arias and duets by Giuseppe Verdi and Giacomo Puccini, fitting for a Florentine concert, since they are two of the best-loved composers of Italian operas ever.

This New Year’s Gala Concert in Florence features tremendously memorable melodies and would be a delightful way to begin 2025.