AstiLirica
Asti's early-summer opera festival, run by the Comune with Lirica Tamagno: five evenings between late May and early July of opera, sacred music and recitals in the Teatro Alfieri, the courtyard of the Biblioteca Astense, churches and other places around the city.
Why it's special
It takes opera out of the opera house and into some of Asti's best spaces: a baroque intermezzo in the library courtyard, Rossini's Petite Messe Solennelle in the Collegiata di San Secondo, choral music in the baptistery of San Pietro. In 2026 tickets cost €12 at most, two concerts were free, and two casts were chosen through a singing competition and public auditions.
Programme · 2026
4th edition, artistic director Renato Bonajuto.
- Tickets were €12 in 2026 (€10 over-65s and other reductions, €5 under-30s), with the concerts in the library courtyard and the Collegiata free while seats last.
- Box office at the Teatro Alfieri (Tuesday and Thursday 10:00–17:00), +39 0141 399057, or online on Biglietto Veloce.
- Outdoor evenings in the library courtyard start around 21:15–21:30; bring a layer in June.
AstiLirica is a young festival, started by the Comune di Asti in 2023 and run with the opera association Lirica Tamagno. The artistic director, Renato Bonajuto, builds each edition around a few full operas in the Teatro Alfieri and a set of concerts in the city's more unusual spaces.
Those spaces are the point. The courtyard of the Biblioteca Astense has hosted Pergolesi's comic intermezzo La serva padrona and an evening of arias; the baptistery of the Complesso di San Pietro a choir singing Renaissance polyphony; the Collegiata di San Secondo Rossini's Petite Messe Solennelle. The festival also gives young singers a stage: in 2026 the soloists for the Rossini mass came from the Koliqi competition in Milan, and the cast of Menotti's The Medium was chosen at public auditions at the Conservatorio Santa Cecilia in Rome.
The festival is meant for opera lovers and newcomers alike, with tickets at €12 or less. It overlaps with AstiTeatro in June, and in 2026 the two shared a production of Peter Brook's La tragédie de Carmen. See what else there is to do in Asti.
Past editions
| Year | Dates | Programme |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 30 May – 2 July 2026 | 4th edition, artistic director Renato Bonajuto. Sat 30 May, 21:00 – Leoncavallo's Pagliacci, Teatro Alfieri: Orchestra Terre Verdiane conducted by Stefano Giaroli, Coro Francesco Tamagno, staged by Alessandro Brachetti Mon 8 Jun, 21:15 – 'Armonie Celesti', a concert of arias, courtyard of the Biblioteca Astense (free) Sat 13 Jun, 21:00 – 'La tragédie de Carmen', Peter Brook's version of Bizet's opera, Spazio Kor (also part of AstiTeatro 48) Sun 21 Jun, 21:15 – Rossini's Petite Messe Solennelle, Collegiata di San Secondo, with soloists from the Koliqi competition (free) Thu 2 Jul, 21:00 – Menotti's The Medium, Palco 19, cast chosen at public auditions in Rome |
| 2025 | 9 June – 7 July 2025 | 3rd edition. Mon 9 Jun, 21:30 – Pergolesi's La serva padrona, courtyard of the Biblioteca Astense Sun 15 Jun, 21:30 – Handel's Il trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno, courtyard of the Biblioteca Astense Mon 30 Jun, 21:30 – Pianist Roberto Cominati, Liszt and Moszkowski's opera paraphrases, Teatro Alfieri Thu 3 Jul, 20:00 and 21:30 – Coro Novharmony, polyphony from the Renaissance to the 20th century, Battistero di San Pietro (free) Mon 7 Jul, 21:30 – Puccini's Madama Butterfly, Teatro Alfieri |