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Meloni joins cultural elite celebrating Italian opera's recognition as a world treasure
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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. - photo by Paola Garbuio/LaPresse via AP
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.