by InTrieste
The Teatro Lirico Giuseppe Verdi will reopen its doors this September following a structural restoration, launching an expanded symphony season that will run from Sept. 20, 2026, through May 19, 2027. For the first time in years, the theater’s orchestral program will span nearly the entire cultural season, offering 11 concerts with performances scheduled almost monthly.
The new season combines cornerstone works of the classical repertoire with a thematic focus on 20th-century and contemporary music. Several concerts will begin with short orchestral pieces by modern composers, creating what the theater describes as a musical thread connecting today’s voices with the established canon.
The opening concert, on Sept. 20, will feature White Ocean (Antarctic) by the late Italian composer Ezio Bosso, performed by the Orchestra of the Fondazione Teatro Lirico Giuseppe Verdi under the direction of Francesco Lanzillotta. Pianist Benedetto Lupo will join the orchestra for Maurice Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G Major, followed by Dmitri Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 5, one of the composer’s defining works.
Bosso’s White Ocean, drawn from his symphonic cycle Oceans, is rarely performed in concert and opens the season as a tribute to one of Italy’s most internationally celebrated contemporary composers, whose music maintains a strong connection to Trieste’s cultural memory.
Four days later, on Sept. 24, the theater will present an evening devoted entirely to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Dutch conductor Ton Koopman, renowned for his interpretations of Baroque and Classical repertoire, will lead the orchestra alongside pianist Francesco Piemontesi.
The program includes the overture to The Magic Flute, Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 25 in C Major, and the composer’s final symphony, the monumental “Jupiter” Symphony No. 41, widely regarded as one of the greatest achievements of the Classical era.
Both opening performances are presented in collaboration with the Società dei Concerti di Trieste as part of the city’s Il Faro della Musica festival.
The theater’s subscription campaign will conclude on Sept. 20, while tickets for individual concerts and non-subscription performances are already on sale.
