Concerti a Palazzo: Omaggio a Verdi e Puccini

The music of Giuseppe Verdi and Giacomo Puccini features in a concert staged in the splendid halls of Palazzo Zeno in Venice. This regular series of stunning performances includes some of each maestro's most dramatic operatic works highlighting the emotion of Italian opera in a superbly evocative setting. The Concerti a Palazzo – or Palace Concerts – series truly pays homage to Verdi and Puccini as the star composers of Italian opera. Nonetheless, each performance also includes some music by the renowned film score writer, Ennio Morricone, who is widely admired for his many unforgettable melodies, as well as some traditional Neapolitan songs by Ernesto De Curtis and Eduardo Di Capua.
The Zeno family, custodians of the Palazzo Zeno, stage the Omaggio a Verdi e Puccini in collaboration with the I Musici Patavini association. Each concert showcases some of the most beautiful arias from the operas of Verdi and Puccini. Arias and duets from La Traviata, one of Verdi's best-known works are included, for example. The programme also features songs from both La Bohème and Turandot, among the most well-loved operatic scores by Puccini. ‘Torna a Surriento’ and ‘Non ti scordar di me’, both written by De Curtis, as well as Di Capua's famous ‘O Sole Mio’, are also on the programme alongside some of Morricone's most notable film scores. With a trio of top-quality singers to interpret each aria and duet beautifully, every performance also features a pianist and string quartet.
The Palazzo Zeno is located only a short distance from the Basilica dei Frari in the San Polo district, a site known to many of Venice's numerous visitors making it easy to find. This historic family palace was constructed in the late 14th century by Carlo Zeno, otherwise known as “capitano da mar”, a war hero who fought with Venice against its great maritime rival, Genoa. The palace underwent various alterations over the years since it was first built. The most notable of these changes was the work of an architect named Antonio Gasparri who was hired by Alessandro Zeno, ambassador of La Serenissima – Venice's Republican period - to the court of King Louis XV at Versailles. Gasparri's profound changes are still on show to this day, giving concertgoers a fascinating insight into Venice's history. For example, the palace's rooms are frescoed and decorated with stucco work by the greatest artists of this time.
This concert programme, which runs for around 100 minutes, is likely to be just as thrilling for the passionate music as it is for the chance to see such a beautiful palazzo in such fine detail. During a mid-performance interval, audience members have the opportunity to visit the rooms of the Noble Floor of the palace and its portico plus the magnificent Zeno garden. What could be more enticing during a trip to Venice?