Tenor concert · Rome
Three tenors and a small ensemble sing opera arias inside St Paul's Within the Walls on Via Nazionale.
Opera's best-loved tenor arias, sung in a church famous for its Burne-Jones mosaics.
Four numbers worth knowing
Why this concert, in this church
On 7 July 1990, the eve of the football World Cup final, Luciano Pavarotti, Plácido Domingo and José Carreras sang together at the Baths of Caracalla in Rome. The concert launched an idea that outlived it. Tonight's tenors are different singers, and the concert is inspired by those shows, but the repertoire is the one the trio made famous.
St Paul's Within the Walls was the first non-Catholic church built in Rome after 1870. The Episcopal congregation commissioned the English architect George Edmund Street, who clad it in red brick and white travertine. It stands on Via Nazionale, a street laid out to link Termini station with the centre.
The apse and chancel carry mosaics designed by the Pre-Raphaelite artist Edward Burne-Jones, made in Venice and installed over several decades. They are the largest works of his career, so the room you hear the tenors in is itself something to look at.
The arias a tenor concert is built from
Tenor programmes draw on a shared repertoire of opera arias and songs from Naples. The organiser sets the programme for each date, so read this as a map of what such an evening can hold.
No single piece is promised for your date. The ticket page outlines the programme, and the organiser may change it.
A painter's last night
Cavaradossi's E lucevan le stelle, sung in Act 3. The story unfolds in Rome in June 1800, and the first performance was at the city's Teatro Costanzi on 14 January 1900.
A tear that gives hope
Una furtiva lagrima, the romanza Nemorino sings in Act 2 when he believes a love potion is working. Donizetti's comic opera was first staged at the Canobbiana theatre in Milan, on 12 May 1832.
The tune Verdi kept secret
La donna è mobile, sung by the Duke of Mantua in Act 3. Verdi revealed it to the cast only hours before the premiere at La Fenice on 11 March 1851.
The aria that crossed over
Nessun dorma, sung by Calaf in the last act. Puccini left the opera unfinished at his death in 1924, and it premiered at La Scala on 25 April 1926.
A song written for a railway
Luigi Denza and Peppino Turco wrote it for the opening of the first funicular on Vesuvius. It was first heard at the Piedigrotta festival in 1880.
The three-voice finale
Capurro supplied the dialect words and di Capua the melody. The original Three Tenors typically sang it together, which is why audiences expect it.
St Paul's, one detail at a time
Arrive early enough to look around. The church was designed to be seen, and the concert takes place inside it.
Street built the church in red brick and white travertine in a mixed Romanesque-Gothic style, with a bell tower that has mullioned windows. The bands of colour continue inside, where the church has three naves.
Christ Enthroned in the Heavenly Jerusalem fills the apse semi-dome and was completed in 1885. Over the chancel arches, The Annunciation and The Tree of Life date from 1894. A fourth, lower on the apse wall, was finished in 1907 by his assistant Thomas Rooke.
The nave windows by the English firm Clayton & Bell tell the life of St Paul. Majolica tiles inside are attributed to William Morris. The mosaics around the rose window and portal are by the American artist George Breck.
Some saints in the mosaics carry the features of real people: St Andrew resembles Abraham Lincoln, St James resembles Giuseppe Garibaldi and St Patrick resembles Ulysses S. Grant.
The nave toward the apse, the Burne-Jones mosaics, the striped façade and bell tower, the chancel from the side, the tiles and Via Nazionale.
Tenor arias in Rome, side by side
| Option | What you get | Who it suits |
|---|---|---|
| The Three Tenors at St. Paul's Within the Walls | About 1.5 hours of opera arias and songs of Naples from three tenors with live accompaniment, cancellable until 24 hours before, with pay-later available. | Anyone who wants famous tenor pieces in the church on Via Nazionale. |
| Opera arias at the same church, with seating categories | A concert of lyrical arias, overtures and duets by an opera ensemble with soprano, tenor and baritone, in the same church, with category A, category B and VIP seating. | Listeners who want to pick a seating category and enjoy a wider cast of voices. |
| Italian opera night by candle glow | About an hour with a tenor and a soprano accompanied by piano by candle glow, with a VIP sector for front-row seats. The venue and meeting point depend on the option. | Anyone who wants a shorter, more intimate concert. |
Book the tenor concert
Each card opens the dates on sale, and a rail beneath it lists other things to book around Rome.
About 1.5 hours of opera arias and songs of Naples from three tenors with live accompaniment, cancellable until 24 hours before, with pay-later available.
A concert of lyrical arias, overtures and duets by an opera ensemble with soprano, tenor and baritone, in the same church, with category A, category B and VIP seating.
About an hour with a tenor and a soprano accompanied by piano by candle glow, with a VIP sector for front-row seats. The venue and meeting point depend on the option.
More to book around Rome
Planning the evening
St Paul's Within the Walls is at Via Nazionale 16a, 00184 Rome. The street runs from Piazza della Repubblica toward Piazza Venezia. The confirmation email carries the start time for your evening.
Via Nazionale began as the road that links Termini station with the city centre, so the church sits on that route. From elsewhere in Rome, check routes with the city's transport operator close to your date.
Choose a date in the calendar and see what seating the page offers for it. A seat nearer the singers puts the voices close, while a seat further back gives the architecture more room.
The arias are sung in Italian and the songs of Naples in the dialect of the city. You do not need either language, because the pieces are about feeling, and the guide to the arias on this site gives each story.
Wheelchair access is listed for the concert, and pets are not allowed. For route and seating details before you travel, ask the booking site through your confirmation.
Dress in layers you can remove. An old building of brick and stone can feel close on a warm evening, and cool when the weather turns.
Guides to the singers, the songs and the church
How to book the Three Tenors concert at St Paul's Within the Walls in Rome: what the evening is, who sings and how it compares with other tenor nights.
Read the guide → The church and the streetSt Paul's Within the Walls on Via Nazionale: who built Rome's Victorian church, what the Burne-Jones mosaics show and how to reach it for a concert.
Read the guide →FAQ
About 1.5 hours. Every date in the calendar has a start time of its own, so dinner can be planned around it.
No. The concert is inspired by the Three Tenors shows of the 1990s and is performed by the organiser Opera e Lirica with its own singers.
In St Paul's Within the Walls, Via Nazionale 16a, Rome. The church is the Episcopal church in Rome, often called the American Church.
Opera arias and songs of Naples. The organiser sets the programme and may change it, and the ticket page gives the programme for your evening.
Neither. The pieces are famous melodies, and the guide to tenor arias on this site tells the story behind each one.
Cancelling is free until 24 hours before, with a full refund through GetYourGuide, and a place can be reserved without paying at booking.
The ticket is a concert admission, so plan dinner or a drink separately, before or after.
Wheelchair access is listed for the concert. Pets are not allowed.
Fares are per adult, shown in dollars and converted into your own currency when the booking page opens.