The excitement of “A Night At The Opera” is that its programme is free to feature music from any point in opera’s long history. This being Lucca, Puccini is always on the bill, but the other delights could come from any other composer who has lit up the stage with their music: while Gaetano Donizetti, Vincenzo Bellini, Gioachino Rossini, Giuseppe Verdi and Pietro Mascagni were all pioneers in Italy, opera’s spiritual home, many other countries have their own masters: Leoš Janáček from the Czech Republic; France’s Georges Bizet and Léo Delibes; Germany’s two Richards, Strauss and Wagner; not to forget Russia’s immense contribution in the form of Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka, Modest Mussorgsky, and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky.

Puccini’s Festival in Lucca is a special occasion whichever night of the week you decide to enjoy one of the recitals in its schedule. But “A Night At The Opera” is the least predictable, an evening when its performers have the freedom to make their selections from a tradition that has endured for half a millennium. BUY TICKETS