Manon Lescaut is an opera in four scenes by Giacomo Puccini. The first performance took place 1st February 1893 at the Regal Theatre in Turin, where it obtained an outstanding success. It was composed between the summer of 1889 and October 1992.

List of the operas performed for the first time at Arena amphitheatre from the beginning to nowadays.

The Arena Opera Festival has been opened in 1913 with Giuseppe Verdi's masterpiece "Aida", in order to celebrate the centennial his birth.

Aida is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi, on a booklet by Antonio Ghislanzoni, based on an original subject by Auguste Mariette. The first performance happened at the Khedivial House Work of Cairo on 24th December 1871.

The barber of Seville is an opera by Gioacchino Rossini on a booklet by Cesar Sterbini drawn from the homonymous comedy by Beaumarchais. The original title is "Almaviva, or the useless precaution".