2023 will mark the return in June of Donizetti Night, the Festival’s summer mood which involves not only the main institutions but also dozens of other realities dedicated to Donizetti, through a dense network of artistic and entrepreneurial collaborations, first and foremost that with the Conservatory.

Donizetti By Night 2023 will once again transform the centre of Bergamo into a veritable stage, where the public will be able to engage with Donizetti’s life and works in different ways and forms, so that Donizetti’s heritage will be increasingly perceived as the city’s cultural legacy and a stimulus for its intellectual, social and tourist development.

In Bergamo, a cultural revolution has got underway in the spirit of Gaetano Donizetti and his value in terms of identity for the city. Within this itinerary, the artistic director of the Donizetti festival, Francesco Micheli — an opera director and star of TV programmes on Rai1 and Sky — has created various initiatives with the intention of transforming opera from an elitist form of entertainment into an authentic, popular, wide-ranging virtual marketplace. ‘Donizetti By Night’ stands out among these.

The intention of ‘Donizetti By Night’ is to spark the interest of tourists and the pride of Orobic citizens, merchants and artists around the figure of Gaetano Donizetti: one of the world’s five most performed composers.

Enjoying Donizetti’s opera in his hometown is an experience no other city in the world can ever offer, and during ‘Donizetti By Night’, music, words, images and colours by and for Donizetti enliven every street around the theatre dedicated to the Orobic composer.

From afternoon to late night, Bergamo’s buildings, atria, squares and monuments come to life with almost 100 events including concerts, shows, projections and theatrical moments with more than 500 artists.

“We like the idea that once a year,” declared artistic director Francesco Micheli, “the city of Bergamo takes to the streets to celebrate the greatness of Donizetti, to enjoy the genius and legacy of a composer that conquered and still conquers the masses all over the world and who must now seduce the people of Bergamo”.

The last edition of the event attracted over fifty thousand spectators.