VERONA THEATRE SUMMER 2025 — NOW IN ITS 77TH EDITION, FROM JUNE 27TH TO SEPTEMBER 22ND
This season is full of surprising novelties with an exhilarating program. This is the first season of the new three-year project that draws inspiration, each year, from one of the elements (water, earth, air). This year the festival comes to life from the element of water, a symbol of transformation and dream, but also of contamination. The festival, starting from the Shakespeare Festival, intertwines music, theater and dance with performers from the Italian and foreign scene in a program of the highest level. On the stage of the Teatro Romano we will see eleven national premieres and great classics reinterpreted with a contemporary gaze, from Othello to Richard III, up to The Tempest. Much-loved actors will return to the stage such as Francesco Pannofino, Maria Paiato, Francesco Acquaroli, Paolo Sassanelli, Giorgio Pasotti (also director), Giacomo Giorgio, Graziano Piazza, Claudio Casadio, Loredana Giordano and the extraordinary Lella Costa, protagonist of a Lysistrata yet to be discovered. Alongside them, new voices from the theatrical scene and performances capable of surprising and exciting. There will be no shortage of artistic contaminations: dance, musical incursions with hybrid languages, the overwhelming irony of Marco Paolini with his Bestiario Idrico, and magic for the little ones with Pimpa, the polka dot musical and the famous Trocks. Each event will be an invitation to let yourself be crossed by different emotions, between reflection, dream and wonder. On the stage of the Teatro Romano in Verona will perform: Cat Power, Paolo Fresu, Richard Galliano, Jan Lundgren, Stefano Bollani, Trilok Gurtu, Max Richter, Jack Savoretti, Simone Cristicchi, Calibro 35, Irene Grandi, Goran Bregović and Gaia. Contaminazioni Musicali, as part of the Estate Teatrale Veronese, is the review created by Eventi Verona in the Teatro Romano, scheduled from June 27 to July 28: ten artists with different stories and musical experiences. Pop, rock, jazz, soul, ethno and world music, folk, funk, prog, classical and electronic: the eclecticism of Contaminazioni Musicali, combined with the high quality of the artistic proposal, is a guarantee of the attractiveness of the Eventi Verona program, capable of capturing the attention not only of those who follow music, but also of the curious, neophytes, young people, families and tourists. More contaminations on the evening of June 28, with a trio of virtuosos from different corners of Europe: the Sardinian trumpeter Paolo Fresu, the French accordionist Richard Galliano and the Swedish pianist Jan Lundgren. In their Mare Nostrum a load of stories linked to the sea, from the Baltic to the Mediterranean, between folk, jazz and classical. All fused in a fascinating lineup, where the French song of Trenet immerses itself in the sea of Swedish tradition, in the languid waters of Piazzolla’s tango, in the soul of Quincy Jones and in the baroque of Monteverdi. It continues on June 29: still other interweavings and visions that meet, those of the pianist Stefano Bollani and the Indian percussionist Trilok Gurtu, two artists who live eight thousand kilometers apart, yet so close to dialogue without interruption since their first meeting, in a succession of musical suggestions, ideas, quotes and explorations. There is also anticipation for the Max Richter concert on July 5. The English composer and pianist of German origin presents his new album, In A Landscape, the ninth of his discography. In his original music, polarities are cancelled: electronics meets acoustic instruments, Nature merges with Man and the great ideas of philosophers intersect with the intimate thoughts of every man. Songwriters’ songs tinged with pop & soul, instead, with the concert by Jack Savoretti on July 13th. Born in London and baptized in Portofino, after a series of successful albums in English, he arrived at his most recent Miss Italia, conceived, written and produced entirely in Italian, written to strengthen the bond with our country. Savoretti is a new surprising folk-rock artist who can aspire to be part of the historic School of singer-songwriters of Genoa. We continue with the songwriters’ songs. On July 19th, the stage goes to Simone Cristicchi for a journey From darkness to light, on the route traced by the songs of his most recent album which contains Quando sarai piccola, presented at the Sanremo Festival 2025. The show of the Roman “singer-actor” is embellished by the music of his historic band, joined for the occasion by the Gnu Quartet, a refined string formation. A leap into the vintage era of soundtracks for poliziotteschi films, spaghetti westerns, sports broadcasts and TV series from the 70s and 80s, in the name of jazz, funk, lounge, afro and prog: Calibro 35 will be arriving at the Teatro Romano on July 20, the Milanese group that continues the tradition of film music by the most recognized and cult masters such as Morricone, Ortolani, Umiliani, Piccioni and Micalizzi. While waiting for their new album, Exploration (out in early June), the band has released a series of singles, reaffirming their class, instrumental technique and mastery in arrangements. Another journey into history, this time of Italian pop: on July 26, Irene Grandi will be arriving in Verona with her concert Fiera di me, in which she proudly retraces a career that has lasted 30 years. On July 27th it’s the turn of Goran Bregović, accompanied by his extraordinary Wedding and Funeral Band, an ensemble that blends joy and melancholy in a turbo version of Balkan folk, an explosive mix of cultures, stories and rhythms. Finally, the game of exchanges between different musical traditions carried forward by pop star Gaia, on the stage of the Teatro Romano on July 28th, is appreciable. Gaia flies to the top of the Top Ten with a high-consumption song like Sesso e samba but also duets with Toquinho at Sanremo 2025, in the song La voglia, la pazzia by Ornella Vanoni. One of the most sensual young voices in Italian pop music today.