This month Rome serves up a wealth of thrilling events, from rarely performed opera to daring modern dance and everything in between.
Momix – From Tuesday 7 to Sunday 19
Legendary contemporary dance troupe Momix returns to Rome’s Teatro Olimpico for a highly anticipated performance of their latest show, Back to Momix. The production, a collaboration with the Roman Philharmonic Academy, was inspired by the unquenchable yearning to return to the stage after the difficult years of Covid that distanced the company from its audience, as well as a desire for lightheartedness and joviality, and an eye always trained on the future. The acrobatic dancers defy the challenges of gravity as the company’s charismatic artistic director and founder, Moses Pendleton, brings to the stage the most significant extracts of the iconic works that have marked the history of Momix, with a new and, if possible, even more dazzling intensity. momix.com
Escher – All Month
More than 300 works by M. C. Escher are on display at the city’s newest major exhibition space, Palazzo Bonaparte. The unprecedented exhibit, which coincides with the 100th anniversary of Escher’s first visit to Rome in 1923, is the largest and most complete exhibit ever dedicated to the unusual Dutch artist. Through his mind-bending engravings and lithographs, Escher transports viewers into an imaginative and impossible world, where art, mathematics, science, physics, and design come together in unique and unexpected ways. In addition to his most iconic masterpieces such as Hand with Reflecting Sphere, Drawing Hands, and Day and Night, the exhibit also displays a number of works that have never been seen in public before. Be baffled by the mathematical enigmas and optical illusions that have made Escher one of the world’s best-loved artists. mostrepalazzobonaparte.it
Mefistofele – From Monday 27
If you’re getting a little bored of Traviata or Tosca popping up every time you get a yen for the opera, this month the Teatro dell’Opera di Roma has got something out of the ordinary. Arrigo Boito’s opera Mefistofele is a rarely performed work that has finally begun to receive the attention it deserves, over a century and a half after its fateful premiere. Complex and avant-garde, the opera was truly before its time, and sadly not appreciated by contemporary audiences. Today it’s experiencing something of a revival, with several important companies deciding to produce it in the past decade. The Faustian story is based heavily on Goethe’s iconic work, and goes up this month at Rome’s Teatro Costanzi under the direction of Michele Mariotti with completely original stage direction by Simon Stone. operaroma.it
International Sacred Music and Art Festival – From Saturday 4 to Wednesday 8
Take Rome’s most majestic churches and combine them with the music of the greatest composers of all time performed by some of the most talented musicians in Europe and what do you get? A true feast for the senses, namely the 22nd edition of the annual International Sacred Music and Art Festival. Celebrated international and Italian orchestras, choruses, and ensembles, as well as renowned conductors and soloists from around the globe, bring sacred music and architecture together in magnificent fashion, with performances of Mozart, Beethoven, Caccini, Bartolucci, Brosig, Perosi, Carissimi, and more. Best of all, performances are free. Concerts take place at St. Paul’s Outside the Walls, St. Ignatius, and St. Mary Major, and the Pantheon. Find the full program at promusicaeartesacra.lineamenta.org
Trame di Luce – From Thursday 16
This month, Rome’s Botanical Garden presents a sensory exhibition created and curated by IMG and Be.it Events in which light and nature come together to create an enchanted world that will illuminate the Eternal City’s dark winter nights. This extraordinary initiative, which radiates the beauty of nature into space and projects the gaze towards infinity, takes place among the towering palms and bamboo forests of this exquisite garden, located on the slope of the Janiculum Hill. Visitors can immerse themselves in the enchantment of a myriad of illuminated installations, created by internationally acclaimed artists wich will accompany the city’s residents and tourists alike in a rich multi-sensory experience. Find out more information and book your visit at roma.tramediluce.it
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