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Italy UNESCO Gala
Italian Conductor Riccardo Muti acknowledges applause at a gala concert at the Verona Arena to celebrate the recognition by UNESCO of the Italian art of opera singing, in Verona, Italy, Friday, June 7, 2024. (Paola Garbuio/LaPresse via AP)

Meloni joins cultural elite celebrating Italian opera's recognition as a world treasure

Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni has joined top political and cultural figures at Verona’s ancient Arena amphitheater for an open-air celebration of Italian lyric opera’s recognition by UNESCO as a global cultural treasure

By Colleen Barry
Published - Jun 07, 2024, 10:04 PM ET
Last Updated - Jun 07, 2024, 10:04 PM EDT

VERONA, Italy (AP) — Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni joined top political and cultural figures at Verona’s ancient Arena amphitheater Friday night for an open-air celebration of Italian lyric opera’s recognition by UNESCO as a global cultural treasure.

Conductor Riccardo Muti presided over an orchestra of 170 musicians from Italy’s 14 opera houses, joined by over 314 choral singers and a cast of global star opera stars who delivered a greatest hits of Italian opera from Verdi to Puccini, Donizetti to Bellini for an appreciative crowd. La Scala’s two star dancers, Roberto Bolle and Nicoletta Manni, also performed.

“I am here to testify to my enthusiasm and my pride for the fact that Italian lyric opera has received this great recognition,″ Muti told the crowd. “Of course, this is an important moment, because recognition is never a point of arrival but a point of departure.”

“The great masterpieces are our heritage, which we Italians have given to the world,″ Muti added in a prepared message for the television audience.

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