Bari, the new season of Petruzzelli presented: it starts with «La Cecchina» by Piccinni, in 2026 the festival will also be held in summer

The 2026 season of the Petruzzelli theater in Bari will be inaugurated on January 21 with the opera 'La Cecchina', by Niccolò Piccinni. The conclusion, on December 22, will instead be in the name of Gioacchino Rossini with 'The Barber of Seville'. The program, conceived by the executive director of the Petruzzelli theater foundation, Luigi Fuiano, was presented this morning in the foyer. Present, among others, were the president of the Puglia Region Michele Emiliano, the mayor of Bari Vito Leccese and superintendent pro tempore, Nicola Grazioso.

The 2026 opera season is marked by the rediscovery of the identity and cultural heritage of the territory and continues with 'Falstaff' and 'La Traviatà' by Giuseppe Verdi, 'Il Gobbo del Califfo' by the composer from Modugno (Bari) Franco Casavola, 'Bona Sforza' by Zygmunt Krautze and 'Il Trovatore' by Giuseppe Verdi. From 12 to 15 November, the ballet 'Swan Lake' is also on the bill, brought to the stage by the contemporary company Ballet Preljocaj.

As for the symphonic season, nine concerts are scheduled that will involve the Petruzzelli orchestra, led by permanent conductor Stefano Montanari in the inaugural concert in February dedicated to the composer Dmitrij Sostakovic. Five additional chamber music events are also planned with soloists such as the Russian violinist Ilya Gringolts, the Japanese violinist Karen Gomyo and the horn player Emanuele Urso.

On the occasion of the Day of Remembrance, on January 27, 'A survivor of Warsaw' is on the bill, with the story commissioned to Giovanni Bietti, while the collaboration with the Bif&st returns, in March, with the orchestra committed to reviving the soundtrack of a film. New for the next season is 'Extra', a concert series that will bring the Petruzzelli to life from early June to mid-July with numerous events. And then there is the collaboration with the publishing house Laterza that starts with 'The birth of modern Bari'.

"For 2026, the Petruzzelli Theater Foundation has tried to create a season that lives up to the previous ones. This with the awareness of wanting to adapt to the needs of the Bari public and tourism with the special project of opening the theater in June and July through an artistic path for a summer audience looking for a bit of lightheartedness." This was stated by the pro tempore superintendent of the Petruzzelli Theater Foundation, Nicola Grazioso, on the sidelines of the presentation of the 2026 season. The summer project has been named 'Extra'.

"The new season is varied - he added - because it goes from opera to symphonic, from ballet to a collaboration with the city of Canton and the staging of a ballet typical of their culture". "One of the main themes - he specified - is linked to the figure of Niccolò Piccinni. We are starting a three-year journey that begins in 2026 with the staging of 'La Cecchinà and will end in 2028 with the celebrations for the 300th anniversary of his birth. We want to make Piccinni known to the city and tourists, we would like to choose him as an identity personality on which to base a process of differentiation of tourism".

MAYOR OF LECCESE: WORKING ON NEW SUPERINTENDENT

"The new superintendent of the Petruzzelli Theater Foundation will be proposed by the new Board of Directors, the current one expires on June 30, so we have started the process for the establishment of the new one, which will make proposals." This was stated by the mayor of Bari, Vito Leccese, on the sidelines of the presentation of the 2026 season of the Petruzzelli Theater in Bari. "We are in a transition situation," he added, "and for this reason we have decided to present the program for the next season now, to avoid possible long delays in the designation." "The Board of Directors," Leccese explained, "is the result of the designation of various bodies, including the Municipality of Bari, the Metropolitan City of Bari, the Puglia Region and the Ministry of Culture. A method that could lead to an extension of the times and we did not want to prejudice anything with respect to the future of the theater."

"We believe that the tourism that is coming to Bari in ever greater numbers can multiply because the city is becoming a cultural attraction. Let's start from the place that is the identity of the city's culture, which is the Petruzzelli theater, with a program that also includes an offer that can satisfy tourists." This was said by the mayor of Bari, Vito Leccese, on the sidelines of the presentation of the 2026 season of the Petruzzelli theater in Bari. Among the novelties of 2026 is in fact the opening of the theater, in June and July, for citizens and tourists. "The data for the first three months of 2025 - added Leccese - indicate a 29% increase in attendance compared to the same period in 2024, which was the year of records with over two million tourists in the city." "The Petruzzelli - he concluded - also with this innovative program wants to represent the violin key of a new score of the cultural rebirth of the city."

FUIANO, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE FOUNDATION: «A NEW SEASON IN THE NAME OF IDENTITY»

"The real novelty of the new season is the discovery of our identity, which starts from the inaugural title, 'La Cecchina by Niccolò Piccinni. We will also have the debut of the composer Franco Casavola, born in the nineteenth century in Modugno (Bari), therefore of one of our fellow countrymen who in 1929, in the Rome Opera House, debuted with the opera 'Il gobbo del Califfò. Before the start of the show there will be two meetings: on May 21 and 22 with Gianrico Carofiglio and on May 23 and 24 with Giordano Bruno Guerri, who will give their reflections on the universal theme of the relationship between monotheistic religions". This was stated by Luigi Fuiano, executive director of the Petruzzelli Theatre Foundation and creator of the 2026 season, on the sidelines of the presentation of the program. "The titles - he added - represent the identity heritage of the territory, but also the national one". Fuiano underlined that «there will also be a very rich symphonic season, in which a lot will be invested in the orchestra and the choir. The choir itself will be the protagonist at the Dal Verme theatre in Milan, on 12 and 14 February, with an unpublished work by Umberto Giordano, 'Marinà, as part of the Pomeriggi musicali di Milano».