San Carlo Theater's 2026/2027 Season

The San Carlo Theater has unveiled its 2026/2027 season, which will revolve around an event of considerable historical significance: the 290th anniversary of its founding on November 4, 1737. This anniversary invites us to revisit the great musical masterpieces that have marked the history of Naples’ premier opera house and to reflect on the fundamental role it has played in the history of Italian and international music. Over nearly three centuries of activity, the San Carlo has been—and continues to be—a creative hub and an international point of reference, leaving a legacy that remains one of the most precious treasures of European culture.

Celebrating the theater’s history and the Neapolitan musical tradition, boosting productivity, revitalizing the ballet company, resuming international tours, strengthening ties with the local community, focusing on contemporary art, and featuring great conductors, directors, choreographers, singers, and soloists from the world stage are the cornerstones of the 2026/2027 Season.

The program includes 11 opera titles and 6 ballet productions. Among these are two non-subscription performances: in December, the traditional *The Nutcracker* ; during the Christmas holidays, * *; and in July 2027, *Tosca* at the Arena Flegrea. The season is rounded out by 14 symphonic concerts and 17 chamber music concerts.

Among the opera titles, 5 will be new productions. The curtain will rise on the new season on December 2, 2026, with *Luisa Miller*, a masterpiece composed by Giuseppe Verdi in 1849 specifically for the San Carlo, presented here to the public in a new production directed by Davide Livermore and conducted by Daniel Oren. In February, the spotlight will turn to a new interpretation of *Aida*, directed by Serena Sinigaglia and conducted by Renato Palumbo, which is set to tour Japan next July. Spring, meanwhile, will celebrate the city’s cultural heritage: in April, director Mariano Bauduin will lead two new productions that rediscover the Neapolitan repertoire, Paisiello’s*Nina, or The Madwoman for Love*, conducted by Fabio Biondi, and Donizetti’s rare *Eight Months in Two Hours, or The Exiles in Siberia*, conducted by Fabio Mastrangelo, a co-production with the Donizetti Opera Festival.

The program will also feature the return of two historic productions particularly dear to Neapolitan audiences: *Madama Butterfly*, directed by Ferzan Özpetek and conducted by Francesco Ivan Ciampa, and *The Barber of Seville* , directed by Filippo Crivelli, with Ottavio Dantone conducting . To further enrich the program, the Neapolitan stage will host three milestones of the international opera scene by three masters of world theater: *Pagliacci*, in Franco Zeffirelli’s historic “ ” production , conducted by Daniel Oren; *La damnation de Faust* by Damiano Michieletto, winner of the Abbiati Prize for Best Production of 2017, conducted by Nikolaj Znaider; and *Peter Grimes* by Paul Curran, with John Fiore conducting .

Alongside its repertoire and rediscoveries, the San Carlo looks to the present with a new commission for composer Alessandro Solbiati, who has been tasked with completing *La chute de la maison Usher*, an opera that Claude Debussy had only sketched out.

After years of absence, the San Carlo will return tothe Arena Flegrea in July 2027with *Tosca*, in Edoardo De Angelis’s production * *.

The symphonic season will feature, for the first time on the podium of the Teatro di San Carlo, a prestigious lineup of conductors, including Charles Dutoit, Ton Koopman, Bertrand de Billy, Alexander Soddy, Pietari Inkinen, Nikolaj Znaider, Ramón Tebar, and Umberto Clerici, alongside conductors already known and appreciated by Neapolitan audiences such as Hartmut Haenchen, Pinchas Steinberg, Asher Fisch, and Lorenzo Passerini. In the symphonic and chamber music program, Ludwig van Beethoven takes center stage on the bicentennial of his death, which will be commemorated in 2027. The tribute will open with a performance of the Ninth Symphony conducted by Daniel Oren and will continue with performances of all his solo concertos.

The orchestra is strengthening its connection with the local community through collaboration with cultural institutions in the city and region, including the Piano Festival organized in partnership with the Alessandro Scarlatti Association. In terms of national and international outreach, the 2026/2027 season marks the return of tours: in addition to the tour by the Chorus, the Orchestra, the Ballet Company, and the technical staff to Japan in July 2027 with *Aida*, the Ballet Company will be engaged in a series of performances in Trieste and Trento in the spring.

This season aims to reaffirm the role of the Teatro di San Carlo as a center for production, research, and cultural dissemination, capable of combining tradition and innovation, regional identity, and an international outlook.