Florence opera concerts compared

How to choose

The three concerts differ in repertoire, setting and neighbourhood more than in price or length. All three let you cancel a day ahead, so you can book one and still change your mind. If you want the voice of the opera singer in a small room, choose one of the two arias concerts. If you prefer instrumental music, choose the orchestral evening. If you want full staging, look beyond all three, to the opera house season. If this is your first opera, the two arias concerts are the gentlest start, because each piece is short and complete. If you want a particular composer, check the booking page for the date you like, since programmes change. If you are travelling with a group that disagrees about opera, the orchestral evening may find more common ground than an hour of solo voices.

Three things that set them apart

Repertoire is the first difference. The two arias concerts centre on opera singers with a piano, while the Vivaldi evening is instrumental, played by an orchestra. Setting is the second: one is a former convent church in the Oltrarno, one is a church in the Santa Croce neighbourhood, and the third takes place in an auditorium or a museum, depending on the option you choose. Choice is the third. The Vivaldi evening offers three seat options, while the arias concerts present one ticket type on their booking pages. Match these three differences to your taste and the decision is usually quick.

Santa Monaca, in the Oltrarno

Santa Monaca is a former convent church on Via Santa Monaca, in the Oltrarno. The booking page describes about an hour of opera arias by professional singers with a grand piano, naming Verdi, Rossini, Puccini, Bellini and Mascagni. A printed programme and a visit to a painting are listed with the ticket. Wine is sold at the interval at your own expense. Choose it if you want the south bank of the river, a room with wooden choir stalls and a frescoed vault, and a short, close hour of singing.

Read next: Santa Monaca church opera tickets

Santa Maria al Tempio, in Santa Croce

The second concert is an opera-arias recital sung by professional singers and accompanied by a pianist, in the Santa Croce neighbourhood at the church of Santa Maria al Tempio. Its booking page lists a repertoire from Händel and Mozart to Verdi and Puccini, and says the repertoire and the singers differ every night. The meeting point has a sign at the entrance reading Oratorio della Compagnia di S. Maria della Croce al Tempio. Choose it if you would rather stay in the Santa Croce neighbourhood.

The Vivaldi evening

The third concert is an orchestral evening by the Orchestra da Camera Fiorentina, with Vivaldi, Bach, Mozart and Pachelbel named on the booking page. It offers a choice of three seat options and two venues: the Santo Stefano al Ponte Vecchio Auditorium, described as a historic church turned concert hall, or the Zeffirelli Museum. The meeting point depends on the option you choose. Choose it if you prefer an orchestra and instrumental music to arias, or if you want to pick your seat category.

The opera house

For a full production, Florence's opera house is the place. The Teatro dell'Opera di Firenze was inaugurated in 2011 and permanently replaced the old Teatro Comunale in 2014. The Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, founded in 1933, runs from late April into June, typically with four operas. These evenings bring sets, an orchestra and a complete plot. The theatre's own site lists its season and tickets.