The Teatro Lirico di Cagliari is Sardinia's main opera and concert house, completed in 1993 after a 25-year construction saga that became a byword for public works delays in Italy. The building is not beautiful — a monumental concrete structure that sits awkwardly in the city fabric — but the interior is acoustically excellent and the programme ambitious. The theatre hosts a full opera season from October to May, alongside ballet and symphony concerts.
For visitors to Cagliari with an interest in opera, the theatre offers a chance to see productions at a fraction of the prices of La Scala or La Fenice, often with casts of considerable quality. The Sardinian tradition of choral singing — the cantu a tenore style, which is UNESCO-recognised — sometimes features in the theatre's programming alongside opera. Check the programme at teatroliricodicagliari.it.