On October 2, 9, 16, and 25, 2026, Verdi's masterpiece "Aida" will be performed at the Teatro Giuseppe Verdi di Busseto. Aligning with the festival theme "Mondi Lontani", the production stages the Egyptian-Ethiopian conflicts, featuring the legendary staging by Franco Zeffirelli (revived by Stefano Trespidi). Giuseppe Mengoli conducts the Filarmonica Arturo Toscanini. The cast includes Federica Vitali (Aida), Vincenzo Costanzo (Radamès), and Teresa Iervolino (Amneris). Experience monumental operatic drama in Verdi's hometown, where love in a distant land falls victim to war.

On October 1, 8, and 17, 2026, the XXVI Festival Verdi in Parma opens with the rarely performed opera "Alzira." Under the theme "Mondi Lontani" (Distant Worlds), the work at the Teatro Regio di Parma illuminates the conflict between Spanish conquerors and indigenous peoples in 16th-century Peru. The Verdi expert James Conlon conducts the Orchestra Filarmonica Toscanini and soloists, including Marta Torbidoni (Alzira) and Antonio Poli (Zamoro), in this story of love and dramatic cultural clash. An evening that revives a forgotten Verdi jewel in a new staging by Manuel Renga.