Festival of the New Century at the Arena di Verona

Following its great success in 2013, Arena di Verona this year will launch its Festival of the New Century.

Last year's Centennial Festival brought more than 456,000 spectators and numerous sold out performances to the Arena.

UniCredit is proud to be associated with such a preeminent cultural venue and pleased to be, for the 21st consecutive year, the major partner of the Fondazione Arena di Verona as well as its ticketing service supplier. In 2013 this ticketing service, thanks to new barcode scanners, enabled 115,000 spectators with e-tickets purchased online to bypass the ticket office and directly enter the Arena.

This service underscores how our partnership with the Fondazione Arena di Verona is an example of culture and business coming together to enhance artistic heritage and create employment opportunities. Through our partnership, UniCredit had the opportunity to develop the user-friendly ticketing service that has proven successful for many other distribution channels. This same ticketing platform is now used by more than 600 UniCredit branches in Italy, a dedicated call center and various websites (e.g., geticket.it and UniCredit's internet banking site). It also fosters productive territorial activities through a distribution network of more than 350 organizations, including travel agencies, box offices and electronics retailers.

There are high expectations for the 2014 festival, which will bring six operas (fifty-four performances) and three special events to the Arena.

The premiere performance will take place June 20 with a new production of Un Ballo in Maschera by Giuseppe Verdi, directed by Pier Luigi Pizzi. This work has not been seen on the Arena stage since 1998.

This year also includes an anniversary celebration. Beginning  June 21, under the direction of Franco Zeffirelli, Carmen, the celebrated opera by Georges Bizet, will celebrate the hundredth year since it was first performed in the Arena.

As of June 28, visitors can see Aida, which was the Arena's most attended opera of 2013. Two productions will be performed, the first created by La Fura dels Baus and the second, inspired by the opera performed in 1913, directed by Gianfranco De Bosio.

The fourth and the fifth titles on the bill will be Turandot and Madama Butterfly, two of Puccini's most famous works, which will begin on July 5 and August 15 respectively, both directed Franco Zeffirelli.

On August 23, for the fourth consecutive year, Roméo et Juliette by Charles Gounod and directed by Francesco Micheli will be staged as the last title on the bill.

Three unique events warrant mention: Placido Domingo canta Verdi (July 17), Roberto Bolle and Friends (July 22) and a soiree dedicated to Carmina Burana by Carl Orff (August 9).

The Festival will close with the 1913 edition of Aida on September 7.

Thanks to technical support from UniCredit, a new version of the Arena di Verona App has been released for Android and IOS and may now be downloaded for free from Google Play and the iTunes Store. Opera lovers can now easily check the 2014 schedule for this year's lyric festival and purchase tickets directly from their smartphone or tablet. The app may be configured to operate in English, German or Italian.

For further information about the festival, please visit www.arena.it