Every July and August, the Roman theatre comes back to life as the venue for the Chorégies d'Orange, the oldest opera and classical music festival in France. Founded in 1869 as a Roman-revival "Fêtes Romaines," the festival now stages two or three major opera productions and a handful of orchestral concerts each summer, with the great stage wall as the natural backdrop.
The repertoire is typically Verdi, Puccini, and a 20th-century work, with the Orchestre National de France and international soloists. Performances start at 9:30pm when the heat drops and the wall is floodlit. Tickets sell out months in advance; cheaper seats on the upper gradins are a long climb but the acoustics work everywhere.