For opera lovers, the Regio Theatre (official site), for three centuries on the Turin scene, in its modern venue that was inaugurated in 1973, is a true reference point. With the aid of intelligent programming the Regio has almost doubled its audiences in recent years, with annual ticket sales rising from 99,000 to 180,000. In addition, several of its productions have been international triumphs. Two outstanding exemples include the 1996 production of Puccini's La Boheme starring luciano Pavarotti and Mirella Freni, staged to celebrate the centenary of the opera's first performance of Verdi's Othello, with the Berliner Philarmoniker and conductor Claudio Abbado, result of a co-production with the Salzburg Easter Festival.

Another permanent fixture, not ot be missed on the music lover's calendar, is Settembre Musica, a festival that has become one of Turin's great musical events. Every year the entire month of September is devoted to a paced programme of top quality concerts that might be described as a month of full immersion in music.

The highly committed organisers, over the past twenty years, have created a unique cultural phenomenon with a rich and varied programme tht ranges from symphonies to chamber music, with a particular emphasis on contemporary composers, from new age music to the greatest jazz. ettembre Musica features some of the most famous musicians and performers of the day and is rewarded by huge audiences its popularity confirmed by its ticket sales which add up to 35/40.000 every year.

Turin is also the home of the RAI International Symphony Orchestra. Founded in 1931, this institution has acquired growing prestge over the years under the guidance of celebrity conductors like Herbert von Karajan, Leopold Stokowski, Carlo Maria Giulini, Claudio Abbado, and Riccardo Muti.

The concert season takes place in the various halls of the RAI Auditorium, and also in the recently built Giovanni Agnelli Auditoriumin the Lingotto Centre, designed by architecht Renzo Piano and opened in 1995; a truly magnificent venue, the most modern concert hall in Italy, with splendid acoustics provided by its cladding of cherry wood panels. The Auditorium in Lingotto presents its own season of world class cocerts, as well as hosting a variety of musical events.

If music is a pleasurble habit of the Turin people, much of the credit should also go to the activity of making the youth of the city aware of this pleasure, with a whole series of talks and musical events organised to stimulate the new generations with the passion for music in all its diversity.

Set up in 1946 to promote the culture of music among young people, the Unione Musicale, today naturally addressed to the adult population as well, proposes a packed programme of concerts which, although favours classical music, also offers an ample opportunity to encounter modern and contemporary music. Part of the programme is performed in the exquisite 19th century concert hall of the Giuseppe Verdi Conservatory, a celebrated school of music with over 700 students.

In recent years, Turin has seen the music scene grow remarkabIy in the area of rock, jazz and pop music. The city boasts the highest numeber of young music groups, some of which are already well known on the national and international scene. The numerous venues that host the concerts of these groups, make Turin one of the live realities from the point of view of musical creativity.

The Turin "music system" is completed by the internationally renowned Music Fair, that attracted nearly 200,000 visitors to each of its first two editions. Held in the Lingotto Exhibition Centre in October, the Music Fair offers six full days of concerts, conferences and meetings with the "great stars" of music.This highly popular event attracts a decidedly heterogeneous audience from seasoned music lovers, in search of the latest recordings in the field of cultured music, to youthful autograph hunters, providing proof, if it were needed, of how much music means to the people of Turin.