Which opera, and how to book
Verona opera concert: how to book
How to book the opera concert in a Verona palace: what the ticket covers, the membership card, and how it compares with the Arena and the Teatro Filarmonico.
Reserve a seat in the palace ↗Quick answer
The opera concert in Verona's Palazzo dei Mutilati is a 60-minute programme of arias and duets for tenor, mezzo-soprano and piano, in a small hall of a palace inaugurated in 1934, with a welcome glass of prosecco. It is a close-up first taste of opera, not a staged production. The Arena season and the Teatro Filarmonico are the larger alternatives. The GetYourGuide ticket is a single adult fare, cancellable free up to 24 hours before.
What the concert is
The hour on offer is opera in a small hall. A tenor, a mezzo-soprano and a pianist perform arias and duets from the Italian and French repertoire in the Sala Antonio Girelli, the meeting hall of the Palazzo dei Mutilati, a stone-fronted palace in Verona's city centre that was inaugurated in 1934. Rows of wooden chairs face a curved apse with tall arched windows. A welcome glass of prosecco comes on arrival, and the performers meet guests in the atrium afterwards. It is a concert with piano, not a staged production, so the pianist carries the music that an orchestra would play in a theatre, and you sit close enough to watch the singers work.
What the ticket includes
The GetYourGuide ticket covers admission to the 60-minute concert, performances by the tenor, the mezzo-soprano and the pianist, a glass of prosecco on arrival, access to the palace and its interiors, and a chance to meet the performers afterwards. Seats are reserved, and they are assigned when you arrive, so you cannot choose a row. Souvenirs are not part of the ticket. It is a single adult fare sold per person, and you choose the date and start time in the booking calendar. The ticket is listed at about an hour and a half in all, which allows for the welcome drink, the walk through the palace and the time with the performers.
The donation and the membership card
Know how the money is described before you book, so that nothing surprises you at the door. The concerts are organised by a cultural association, and the ticket states that a reservation counts as a donation to it, because the events receive no financial support from the Italian state. At check-in you complete a membership card with your first and last name and your country of residence. It is a routine step, so allow a few minutes at the entrance, and have the details ready if you are arriving as a group. The donation wording is the organiser's, and it sits alongside the ordinary booking and cancellation terms on the ticket.
Palace concert or the Arena?
Verona's best-known opera is the season in the Arena, the Roman amphitheatre on Piazza Bra. Its own history page says the first opera festival opened on 10 August 1913 with Aida, to mark the centenary of Verdi's birth, and that the amphitheatre seats about 30,000 people. That is opera on a vast open-air stage. The palace concert is the opposite scale: two voices and a piano in a room built for meetings, where you can see the singers breathe. It does not replace an Arena night, and the Arena's programme and tickets are on its own site. The two answer different questions.
Read next: Opera in Verona: Filarmonico to Arena
Palace concert or the Teatro Filarmonico?
The Teatro Filarmonico is the city's main opera theatre. The Accademia Filarmonica, founded in 1543, opened it in 1732 with Vivaldi's La fida ninfa. A fire burned it in 1749, it was rebuilt and rededicated in 1754, and the bombing of 23 February 1945 razed it again before it reopened in 1975. It stages complete operas, ballets and concerts, so check its season on the theatre's own site. If you want a whole work with orchestra and sets, that is the place. If you want one short hour with prosecco and no commitment to three acts, the palace concert is the lighter evening, and it asks far less of a first-time listener.
Read next: Opera in Verona: Filarmonico to Arena
The programme, in general
Four pieces are named for the programme: Verdi's La donna è mobile from Rigoletto, Donizetti's Una furtiva lagrima from L'elisir d'amore, the Habanera from Bizet's Carmen and the Intermezzo from Mascagni's Cavalleria rusticana. Guests also mention other pieces, so the line-up changes between dates and nothing here is a promise. Expect famous numbers rather than rarities, sung in their original languages: Italian for the Verdi and Donizetti arias, French for the Habanera, and none at all for the Intermezzo, which has no words. A separate guide on this site explains each piece, so you can hear the story in the song.
Read next: The arias in a Verona opera concert
Choosing a date
Every open date appears in the calendar with its start time, so read the time first and then plan the rest of the day. The concert is short enough to sit before or after another plan, and the whole visit is listed at about an hour and a half. The hall is small, and one guest who came in the August heat still praised the singers, so a light layer and water for the walk are sensible in summer. If your date is not in the calendar, it is not open, and no other page on this site can add it. Book the concert first, then fit dinner or sightseeing around the time it shows.
What guests say
The concert holds 4.8 out of 5 from 255 reviews on the GetYourGuide ticket. Guests praise the singers and the pianist, the intimate room and the length, and first-time opera goers say it suits them. Some single out the prosecco. The performers also meet guests in the atrium afterwards for photographs. The complaint is a small one: a few guests would like more comfortable seats, so settle in at the start and a short concert will not feel long. Nothing in the reviews describes sets, costumes or an orchestra, because there are none; it is voices and piano.
Who this isn't for
Anyone who wants a full staged opera with an orchestra, sets and costumes should look to the Arena in summer or the Teatro Filarmonico in its season. Nor is this a guided tour of the palace. The building comes with the ticket, but the hour belongs to the music. Travellers who dislike plain chairs or want a long interval will find it spare. And if you expect a plain ticket purchase, the donation wording and the membership card at check-in may feel unusual, so read the third section again before you book. For everyone else it is a short, close and well-liked hour.
Booking terms
The calendar on this page opens the GetYourGuide ticket. Two terms matter there: payment can wait, and cancelling a day or more before the start returns the money in full. The fare is shown per adult, and checkout converts it to your own currency. The ticket is marked wheelchair accessible, with a side entrance for wheelchair users, and the building guide on this site explains how to find the door. After you book, keep the confirmation: it shows the date, the start time and the meeting point, and you will want all three on the day.
Read next: Palazzo dei Mutilati Verona: the venue
Fitting it into a Verona day
The palace stands just outside the Portoni della Bra, close to Piazza Bra, so the concert slots easily around a walk through the old centre. The Arena, the Portoni and the Liston, the long paved promenade along the square, are all part of that centre, which UNESCO has listed as a World Heritage Site since 2000. A separate guide on this site gives the history of each stop. Settle the concert date and start time first, plan dinner and sightseeing afterwards, and leave a margin at the door for check-in and the membership card.
Read next: A Verona evening around the concert
Frequently asked questions
How long is the opera concert?
Sixty minutes of music. The whole visit is listed at about an hour and a half, which leaves room for the welcome prosecco and for time with the performers. Each date has its own start time in the calendar.
Where does the concert take place?
In the Sala Antonio Girelli of the Palazzo dei Mutilati, on via dei Mutilati in Verona's city centre. It is not in the Arena or the Teatro Filarmonico, which are separate venues.
Is the prosecco included?
A welcome glass of prosecco on arrival is included on the GetYourGuide ticket. Other drinks and souvenirs are not part of it.
What is the membership card?
The concerts are organised by a cultural association and the reservation counts as a donation to it. At check-in you fill in a membership card with your first and last name and your country of residence.
Is it suitable for someone new to opera?
Yes. Guests who had never been to an opera say it suits first-timers: it is short, the room is small and the pieces are famous ones. It is a concert with piano rather than a staged opera.
Can I cancel?
Until 24 hours before the start, yes, with a full refund; the fare can also be paid later. These terms belong to the GetYourGuide ticket, and anything after the cut-off follows its own rules.
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