Teatro Filarmonico di Verona

History of the Opera Festival The Opera Festival at the Verona Arena was born on 10 August 1913, with the first performance of Aida commissioned by the Veronese tenor Giovanni Zenatello and the theatrical impresario Ottone Rovato to commemorate the centenary of the birth of Giuseppe Verdi. For over a hundred years (except for two brief interruptions during the great wars) every summer the Roman amphitheater has been transformed into the largest open-air opera house in the world. The current organizational structure is the result of the reform sanctioned by Legislative Decree no. 134 of 1998 and by DL 134 of 1998, which transformed opera companies into foundations under private law, thus giving life to the current Arena di Verona Foundation, and sanctioned the possibility of entry to private members. The current Founding Members of the Foundation are the Italian State, the Veneto Region, the Municipality of Verona, the Province of Verona and the Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Handicraft and Agriculture of Verona. In the past, the Cariverona Foundation, the Banca Popolare di Verona and the Verona Philharmonic Academy have been. The institutional purpose is to carry out non-profit cultural activities of public utility , pursuing the dissemination of musical art and the musical education of the community.