ROMAN FRANCE - Julius Caesar's GAUL

WHAT TO DO

At the Théâtre Antique d’Orange, the Roman theater in Orange, the annual festival of Les Chorégies d’Orange will showcase five operas and concerts, performed between July 11 and Aug. 4.

Verdi’s “Traviata,” which will be conducted by Myung-Whun Chung, will be performed on July 11 and July 15. Georges Prêtre will conduct Mascagni’s “Cavalleria Rusticana” and Leoncavallo’s “Pagliacci” on Aug. 1 and Aug. 4.

The symphonic concerts will take place on July 18 with a program of Tchaikovsky and Berlioz conducted by Mr. Chung with Renaud Capuçon as the violin soloist, and on Aug. 3, featuring works by Mussorgsky, Rachmaninoff and Tchaikovsky, with Eivind Gullberg Jensen conducting and the pianist Hélène Grimaud as soloist.

Tickets can be reserved by phone (33-4-9034-2424) or through www.choregies.com (English version available). Opera tickets are 50 to 223 euros and concert tickets are 17 to 63 euros; tickets are half-priced for students under 25.

From Aug. 23 to 30, the Roman Festival of Arles will host free theatrical performances in the major Roman sites of the city, and on Aug. 29 there will be gladiator tournaments, chariot races and Roman parades as part of an 8-euro spectacle.

Information available only in French at www.festival-arelate.com.