One December evening in Chiaia: your outfit ready in the suite, time to get ready without rushing, then setting off together for the theatre. From Follaky Secret Garden, Teatro di San Carlo is about 8 minutes on foot, there and back.
Giuseppe Verdi's Luisa Miller opens Teatro di San Carlo's 2026/27 Opera Season, with seven performances between 2 and 10 December 2026. It is a new production for the theatre, and the title has a precise link to this house: Verdi composed Luisa Miller in 1849 specifically for San Carlo. The season marks the theatre's 290th anniversary; it was founded on 4 November 1737.
Seven performances of Luisa Miller: dates and times
Times vary from one date to another, so it is worth knowing them before booking trains or flights. According to the official Teatro di San Carlo listing, the performances are as follows:
- Wednesday 2 December, 20:00: season opening, black-tie dress code
- Thursday 3 December, 20:00
- Friday 4 December, 20:00
- Saturday 5 December, 20:00
- Sunday 6 December, 17:00
- Wednesday 9 December, 19:00
- Thursday 10 December, 18:00: closing performance
There are no performances on 7 or 8 December. The opera is sung in Italian, with surtitles in Italian and English, and lasts about 2 hours 45 minutes including the interval: worth bearing in mind when you plan dinner, before or after the theatre. For where to eat, our restaurants page is a good place to start.
Who conducts and who sings at Teatro di San Carlo
Luisa Miller is a tragic melodrama in three acts, with a libretto by Salvadore Cammarano. Daniel Oren conducts the theatre's Orchestra and Chorus, prepared by Fabrizio Cassi; the production is directed by Davide Livermore.
Luisa is sung by Mariangela Sicilia and Rodolfo by Piotr Beczała, in Naples for the first time; alongside them, Igor Golovatenko (Miller), Michele Pertusi (Count Walter), Marko Mimica (Wurm) and Martina Belli (Federica). An alternate cast takes over with Marta Torbidoni (Luisa), Stefan Pop (Rodolfo), Franco Vassallo (Miller) and Gabriele Sagona (Walter): the official listing marks the performances on 3, 5 and 9 December with an asterisk for this second cast. If you are travelling for a particular singer, check it before choosing your date.
How to buy tickets, and when to arrive
Tickets are sold only through the theatre's own channels: online via Vivaticket, by credit card and at full price only; through the Vivaticket call centre on 892.234; or at the box office at Via San Carlo 98/F, open daily from 10:00 to 18:00. The opera and your stay are booked separately.
Doors open an hour before curtain-up, and the theatre asks guests to arrive at least 20 minutes early: latecomers are only admitted at the first interval, as explained in San Carlo's frequently asked questions.
How many nights to book around the performance?
Three nights leave two full days free; with four, you have more time for the historic centre. Check-in is in person with Monica or Fabio, between 15:00 and 20:00, and arriving the day before your performance leaves some margin for travel.
For the Friday 4 December, 20:00 performance, you could arrive on Thursday 3rd and leave on Sunday 6th, with the whole of Saturday free for the city; check-out on Sunday is from Vico Monteroduni 16, by 10:00. For the Sunday 6 December, 17:00 performance, you could arrive on Saturday 5th and leave on Tuesday 8th, with all of Monday free: more ideas for those days are in our article on the Immaculate Conception long weekend.
On your free days you could walk along Via Toledo, taking in Galleria Umberto I (about 8 minutes on foot) and Piazza del Plebiscito (about 9), or set aside a morning for the nativity-scene workshops of San Gregorio Armeno, about 32 minutes on foot along Via Toledo. More ideas for sightseeing are on our what to see page.
Where to stay near San Carlo: a suite in Chiaia
Follaky Secret Garden is a boutique B&B set in the residential grounds of Palazzo Giovagnoni, with two entrances: Via Chiaia 149F, on foot, with a private lift; and Vico Monteroduni 16, the address to give your taxi and for luggage, from which the shortest route to the theatre begins. Both are described on our getting here page.
The Suite Chiaia Deluxe Garden View is the more intimate of the two: olive green, wood and maiolica tiles, with a glazed wall looking onto two adjoining private gardens. The Suite Toledo Deluxe Private Patio is larger and brighter, in white and turquoise maiolica, with its own small private patio. Each suite sleeps two, with a queen bed and Follaky Breakfast included. If you are going to the opera with another couple, Double Suites – Exclusive Use combines both suites for your exclusive use, for up to four guests.
The performance sets your dates. What remains is choosing the suite to get ready in before the theatre and return to once the curtain falls: the one with the glazed wall onto the gardens, or the one with its own small private patio. Compare the two suites and check your December nights.
