Magica, a series of prodigious shows at Auditorium Parco della Musica, December 6 to 8, 2026

Magica, a series of prodigious shows, brings illusionism to Auditorium Parco della Musica Ennio Morricone in Rome, at Viale Pietro de Coubertin 30, from Sunday, December 6 to Tuesday, December 8, 2026, over the Immaculate Conception long weekend. It's the first edition, created by the Fondazione Musica per Roma: seven shows, and eight dates on the calendar, with Raul Cremona, Francesco Scimemi, Vanni De Luca, the Lucchettino, Giancarlo Scalia and a Gran Galà di Illusionismo curated by the Club Magico di Roma. Times range from 11:00 in the morning to 20:00, in three spaces of the complex: Sala Petrassi, Teatro Studio Borgna and Studio 3. Tickets start from 10 euros for Scalia's show and go up to prices starting from 30 euros for De Luca's, according to the official pages. You buy them from the Auditorium website, which links to the authorized presale circuit, or at the complex's box office. You get there on tram 2 from Piazzale Flaminio, Metro A, or on buses 910 from Termini, 53 and 982.

Language: performed in Italian. No English version or English surtitles are announced.

Magica at the Auditorium at a glance

Magica is Auditorium Parco della Musica's new Christmas series dedicated to illusionism: three days with some of the best-known names in Italian magic, designed for an audience of all ages.

The idea behind the series

The official presentation talks about the best Italian illusionists, and not only classic illusionists: artists able to surprise the audience by mixing magic with other languages, from comic theater to manipulation, from auteur magic to big performance. Famous names known to TV audiences, like Raul Cremona, alongside young emerging talents like the Roman Giancarlo Scalia.

The dates

Sunday, December 6, Monday, December 7 and Tuesday, December 8, 2026, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. Sunday has three events, Monday one, Tuesday four.

Prices

The official pages give prices starting from 10 euros for Giancarlo Scalia's A un passo dall'impossibile, from 15 euros for Francesco Scimemi's Magicomio and for the meeting with Raul Cremona and Carlo Negri, from 20 euros for the Gran Galà di Illusionismo and for Happy Birthday Lucchettino, and from 30 euros for Vanni De Luca's Prodigi.

The box office

Between October and March the Auditorium box office is open every day from 11:00 to 20:00, Sundays and holidays included. For information, the Fondazione Musica per Roma answers at info@musicaperroma.it.

The Magica program, day by day

The Magica program is spread over three days and three spaces of the Auditorium, from the large Sala Petrassi to the small Studio 3, suited to close-up magic.

Sunday, December 6

At 11:00, at Teatro Studio Borgna, A carte scoperte, a meeting with Raul Cremona and Carlo Negri. At 16:00, in Sala Petrassi, the Gran Galà di Illusionismo directed by Davide Spada. At 20:00, back at Teatro Studio Borgna, Francesco Scimemi with Magicomio.

Monday, December 7

At 20:00, in Sala Petrassi, Vanni De Luca with Prodigi, the show about the human phenomena that caused a sensation more than a century ago.

Tuesday, December 8

Giancarlo Scalia presents A un passo dall'impossibile at Studio 3 in three performances, at 12:00, 18:00 and 20:00. At 16:00, at Teatro Studio Borgna, the Lucchettino with Happy Birthday Lucchettino.

Raul Cremona and Carlo Negri, A carte scoperte

A carte scoperte opens Magica on Sunday, December 6 at 11:00 at Teatro Studio Borgna: a meeting in which Raul Cremona and Carlo Negri interview each other, each presenting his own book.

Two books, one table

Cremona talks about La vita è un mazzo di carte, guided by the questions of Negri, who explores the history, life and anecdotes of the Magister, all seasoned, the presentation promises, with plenty of magic. Then the roles are reversed: Negri presents Il gioco del XIII, his thriller, and Cremona interviews him, entering the novel's mechanism with the eye of someone who has always worked with illusion and false bottoms.

A game played in the open

The thread of the morning is the magic of connections: the understanding born from years of working together, the point where artist and author become a single creative device. The presentation talks about something less like a literary event and more like a game played with cards on the table.

Cremona in Rome

Raul Cremona is also back in Rome in 2027, with the show Bravissssssimo! at Teatro Olimpico, a few steps from the Auditorium.

The Gran Galà di Illusionismo

The Gran Galà di Illusionismo is Magica's big family event, on Sunday, December 6 at 16:00 in Sala Petrassi, directed by Davide Spada, president of the Club Magico di Roma.

The Club Magico di Roma

The Club Magico di Roma is the oldest magicians' club in the capital, founded in 1957. It organizes the Trofeo Arsenio, the historic competition in collaboration with which the Fondazione Musica per Roma put together the Galà.

On stage

Raffaello Corti, the comic magician who starred on Zelig, with a big social media following, Ottavio Belli and Claudia Veneziano, among the most successful Italian illusionists in the world, Lupis, Italian magic champion, Leonardo Panetti, a young talent who has already performed at the Magic Castle in Hollywood, Francesco Miccoli, revealed to the general public by Italia's Got Talent, Novas, an international artist awarded for his technique, and Dorian, a classic magician with tailcoat and top hat.

The Phobias

Closing the cast are The Phobias, the horror trio formed by Peppe Salomon, Vanessa Specchia and Davide Spada himself, who have appeared on America's Got Talent and on many national and international talent shows. In the Galà, the presentation says, even fears are faced with a smile.

Francesco Scimemi, Magicomio

Francesco Scimemi brings Magicomio on Sunday, December 6 at 20:00 to Teatro Studio Borgna. In 2026 he celebrates 44 years on stage, and his best-known show has passed 3,000 performances.

An unconventional entertainer

Scimemi makes people laugh throughout the show, but he isn't a comedian: the presentation calls him an unconventional entertainer, an inventor who amuses and sweeps the audience along with his conjuring tricks.

From Fantastico to the theaters

His national breakthrough came with Pippo Baudo, on Fantastico, on Rai 1. Since then Scimemi has taken part in a great many TV programs and shows in Italy and abroad.

The pace

Magicomio has a very fast pace and involves the audience in the conjuring tricks, with an irony that is never offensive. More than 3,000 performances show that the formula works with every kind of audience, from children to grandparents.

Vanni De Luca, Prodigi

Vanni De Luca presents Prodigi on Monday, December 7 at 20:00 in Sala Petrassi: a show that takes the audience back more than a century, when human phenomena drew great attention and uproar.

A specialist in wonders

The presentation calls De Luca a true specialist in wonders, a man who has trained body and mind extraordinarily through daily, constant exercise developed over many years.

The masters

In a setting halfway between a doctor's office and a 19th-century parlor, De Luca tells the lives and feats of his masters and predecessors, from Harry Kahne to Thea Alba.

What he does on stage

He memorizes hundreds of pages of a book, solves extremely complicated math puzzles in a few seconds, writes and speaks backward, and solves the Rubik's cube while reciting from memory cantos of the Divine Comedy chosen by the audience. The signature act is called Meraviglie multiple.

The Lucchettino, Happy Birthday Lucchettino

The Lucchettino, Luca Regina and Tino Fimiani, present Happy Birthday Lucchettino on Tuesday, December 8 at 16:00 at Teatro Studio Borgna: the story of their life as a comedy duo, between circus, comic theater and magic.

The Italian Laurel and Hardy

After years of touring around the world, the Lucchettino, called the Italian Laurel and Hardy by the French daily Le Figaro, return to Italian audiences with a new production.

A circus school in Moscow

The show tells their true story: they met by chance in the early 1990s at a circus school in Moscow, two young Italian artists as different as night and day. Clowns, actors, magicians and jugglers, they built an understanding that soon became a comedy duo.

A 30-year promise

At the end of their first show they promised each other that, if the duo lasted more than 30 years, every show would be a party. 30 years later they come back to Italy to keep the promise: Happy Birthday Lucchettino is that party.

Giancarlo Scalia, A un passo dall'impossibile

Giancarlo Scalia presents A un passo dall'impossibile on Tuesday, December 8 at Studio 3, in three performances at 12:00, 18:00 and 20:00: a close encounter with illusionism, designed for the whole family.

Magic up close

Scalia, a Roman, is one of the most highly regarded close-up artists in the world, magic done with cards, coins and small objects, a few centimeters from the spectators. The show promises illusion, poetry, comedy and surreal situations.

Madrid and the masters

With a background in theater and circus, Scalia moved to Madrid, where he was influenced by masters such as Juan Tamariz and Dani Daortiz. His style aims to convey the most with the fewest elements, with a great apparent ease that hides an extremely refined technique.

Why three performances

Studio 3 is an intimate space: close-up only works if the audience is near. The three performances on the day of the Immaculate Conception let more people experience the show at the right distance.

A curious fact about Magica, a series of prodigious shows at Auditorium Parco della Musica, December 6 to 8, 2026

The curious fact is the Rubik's cube. In Prodigi, Vanni De Luca solves the cube while reciting from memory cantos of the Divine Comedy chosen by the audience: two activities that engage the mind in opposite ways, one visual and logical, the other verbal and poetic, performed together. It's the kind of act that, more than a century ago, filled variety theaters and parlors, and that De Luca reconstructs with a setting halfway between a doctor's office and a 19th-century parlor.

The second curious fact concerns the geography of the series. Magica uses spaces of very different sizes, and each corresponds to a type of magic: the large Sala Petrassi for the Galà and for De Luca's feats, where a wide audience is needed, Teatro Studio Borgna for the comedy of Scimemi and the Lucchettino and for Cremona's meeting, and Studio 3, the smallest, for Scalia's close-up, which requires the distance of a table. The series is built as a route that goes from big to small.

The third concerns the Club Magico di Roma: founded in 1957, it's older than the Auditorium by almost half a century. Its Galà was created in collaboration with the Trofeo Arsenio, the club's historic competition, and brings a slice of the Roman magic scene to the stage of Sala Petrassi.

Something nobody tells you about Magica, a series of prodigious shows at Auditorium Parco della Musica, December 6 to 8, 2026

What nobody tells you is that, on the evening of Sunday, December 6, the Auditorium is also full for other reasons. At 20:00, while Scimemi is on stage at Teatro Studio Borgna, Macy Gray sings in Sala Sinopoli and Patti Smith plays in Sala Santa Cecilia. Thousands of people arrive together: lines at the entrance, the cloakroom and the bar will be longer than usual. If you have a ticket for Magicomio, it's a good idea to arrive well in advance.

The second thing concerns Tuesday, December 8, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. Public transportation runs on the holiday schedule, with fewer runs, and the city is full of visitors for the long weekend. For Scalia's noon performances and for the Lucchettino at 16:00, it's best to leave early.

The third concerns prices. The official pages give prices starting from a certain amount: the higher bands, for the best seats, are shown on the linked sales circuit. If you want to see several shows, choose carefully, because prices vary a lot from one event to another.

Auditorium Parco della Musica Ennio Morricone, home of Magica

Auditorium Parco della Musica Ennio Morricone is the complex of concert halls designed by Renzo Piano in the Flaminio district, between the Villaggio Olimpico and Villa Glori, opened in 2002 and run by the Fondazione Musica per Roma.

Sala Petrassi

Sala Petrassi, named after the composer Goffredo Petrassi, is one of the three big halls in the complex, inaugurated on April 21, 2002 together with Sala Sinopoli. It hosts the Gran Galà di Illusionismo and Vanni De Luca's Prodigi.

Teatro Studio Borgna and Studio 3

Teatro Studio Borgna is one of the spaces in the complex chosen for comic theater and meetings: Cremona and Negri, Scimemi and the Lucchettino perform here. Studio 3 is one of the complex's studios, the best suited to Scalia's close-up magic.

Renzo Piano's beetles

The three big halls, with the lead roofs many Romans call beetles, are arranged around the open-air cavea named after Luciano Berio. Since 2020 the whole complex has borne the name of Ennio Morricone.

Accessibility

For the accessibility of individual halls and for specific needs, it's best to contact the Fondazione Musica per Roma at info@musicaperroma.it before buying. For the full profile of the complex there's our page on Auditorium Parco della Musica.

My advice for visiting Magica, a series of prodigious shows at Auditorium Parco della Musica, December 6 to 8, 2026

The advice is to choose the show based on the kind of wonder you're looking for. For a family with children, the Sunday afternoon Gran Galà and the Lucchettino on the Immaculate Conception are the safest choices: convenient times, language for all ages. If you want to laugh, Scimemi on Sunday evening. If you love the impossible told with care, De Luca on Monday. If you want to see magic from a few centimeters away, Scalia at Studio 3.

In our view the most unusual show is Vanni De Luca's Prodigi: it's not about tricks in the classic sense, but about human abilities pushed to the limit, told through the masters of the 19th and early 20th centuries. It's also the most expensive, starting from 30 euros, and it's worth the difference.

For Scalia's show the noon or 18:00 performance is best, leaving the evening of the Immaculate Conception free. If you arrive early, you can go up to the cavea and look at Renzo Piano's roofs in daylight.

And if you're coming with friends or relatives, it's a good idea to buy tickets together: in the smaller rooms, like Studio 3, seats run out first.

How to get to the Auditorium for Magica

Auditorium Parco della Musica Ennio Morricone is reached on tram 2, Flaminia/Reni or Apollodoro stops, and on buses 910, 53 and 982. The nearest metro is Flaminio, on line A.

Metro A and tram 2

From Flaminio station you come out on Piazzale Flaminio and take tram 2, which runs along Via Flaminia. Get off at Flaminia/Reni or Apollodoro and walk through the Villaggio Olimpico to Viale Pietro de Coubertin.

The 910 from Termini

Bus 910 leaves from Piazza dei Cinquecento, in front of Termini station, and reaches the Auditorium without changes.

By car

The stretch of Viale Pietro de Coubertin in front of the Auditorium is closed to cars. The complex has a paid parking lot inside with limited spaces, and on the days of the long weekend, with several halls full, the streets of the Villaggio Olimpico fill up quickly.

Getting back

After the evening shows, tram 2 toward Piazzale Flaminio and then Metro A, or a taxi booked in advance.

Another well-known fact, yet rarely mentioned

It's well known that illusionism is an ancient art. Magica's presentation calls it an art as old as humanity, still able to amaze today. It's less often remembered how much it's an art of schools and masters, passed from person to person. Magica shows this clearly. Vanni De Luca builds his show around his predecessors, from Harry Kahne to Thea Alba. Giancarlo Scalia trained in Madrid in the school of Juan Tamariz and Dani Daortiz. The Lucchettino met at a circus school in Moscow. The Club Magico di Roma, since 1957, has been the club where the capital's magicians meet and compare notes, and the Trofeo Arsenio is its historic competition.

Even less often remembered is how much television has mattered for Italian magic. Scimemi was launched by Pippo Baudo on Fantastico, Raffaello Corti became popular on Zelig, Francesco Miccoli was revealed on Italia's Got Talent, and The Phobias went through America's Got Talent. Magica brings the two souls, the school and the screen, under the same roof.

The right photo to take at Magica, a series of prodigious shows at Auditorium Parco della Musica, December 6 to 8, 2026

The right photo is taken outside the halls. From the top of the cavea, at sunset, frame Renzo Piano's three lead roofs as the lights come on: in early December the sun sets early, and around five the light shifts in a few minutes from gold to blue. It's the image that tells the story of the Auditorium better than any postcard, and it's perfect between the 16:00 Galà and Magicomio at 20:00.

Inside the halls, during the magic shows, no photos or videos: an illusionist works on the audience's attention, and a lit screen distracts it. At the end, if the artist allows it, a photo of the applause is the best memento.

For children, a photo next to the Magica poster in the foyer is the simplest souvenir of the day.

Some important events that happened here in history

The Auditorium area has a history much older than the complex. During the excavations for the foundations, the remains of a Roman villa built in the 3rd century BC on the site of a small archaic farm from the 6th century BC emerged. Renzo Piano had to change the design and move two of the three halls westward: that's why next to Sala Sinopoli there's now a terrace overlooking the archaeology.

The modern story starts with a demolition. In 1936 the Augusteo, Rome's great concert hall, was torn down, and for more than 60 years Rome was left without an auditorium built for music. In 1992 the city council chose the Villaggio Olimpico area, and in 1993 Renzo Piano won the invited competition.

On April 21, 2002, the day of Rome's birthday, Sala Sinopoli and Sala Petrassi were inaugurated, the latter being where Magica's Gran Galà is staged, and on December 21 of the same year Sala Santa Cecilia. Since 2003 the Auditorium has hosted the season of the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, since 2006 the Rome Film Fest, and in 2020 the city council decided to name it after Ennio Morricone. In December 2026 the first edition of Magica arrives.

Who has passed through Magica, a series of prodigious shows at Auditorium Parco della Musica, December 6 to 8, 2026

The Auditorium's halls bear the names of some of the greatest Italian musicians: Goffredo Petrassi, Giuseppe Sinopoli, Luciano Berio for the cavea, Ennio Morricone for the whole complex, and Santa Cecilia, patron saint of music. Every evening artists from all over the world come in. During Magica, on Sunday, December 6, Macy Gray and Patti Smith sing in the neighboring halls.

For Magica, the Auditorium welcomes Raul Cremona, the TV face of Italian comic magic, and Carlo Negri, his co-author, Francesco Scimemi, with 44 years on stage, Vanni De Luca and his feats, the Lucchettino, Luca Regina and Tino Fimiani, after 30 years of touring the world, and Giancarlo Scalia, a Roman, among the most highly regarded close-up magicians.

And the Club Magico di Roma comes through, with its president Davide Spada and a cast that includes Raffaello Corti, Ottavio Belli and Claudia Veneziano, Lupis, Leonardo Panetti, Francesco Miccoli, Novas, Dorian and The Phobias. Eight acts in a single afternoon, directed by Spada.

Magica with children

Magica is designed for an audience of all ages, according to the official presentation, and some events are explicitly for families.

The Sunday Galà

The Gran Galà di Illusionismo is presented as a show for the whole family, at 16:00 on Sunday: the most convenient time for children, with eight different acts that keep attention high.

Scalia and the Lucchettino

Scalia's A un passo dall'impossibile is also designed for the whole family, and the noon performance on December 8 is perfect for the youngest. The Lucchettino, with clowning, circus and magic, speak to everyone.

For older kids

De Luca's Prodigi and the Cremona and Negri meeting are aimed more at teenagers and adults: the first for the complexity of the acts, the second because it's a book presentation, however seasoned with magic.

Around the Auditorium: Flaminio and the Villaggio Olimpico

The Auditorium occupies about 55,000 square meters between Villa Glori, the Villaggio Olimpico, the Corso di Francia viaduct and Viale Maresciallo Pilsudski, in a part of Rome built in the 20th century.

MAXXI and Teatro Olimpico

Near the Flaminia/Reni stop is MAXXI, whose architecture acts as a counterpoint to Piano's, and not far away is Teatro Olimpico.

Toward the Tiber

From the Auditorium you head down toward the river and the Ponte della Musica, which leads to the Foro Italico. Farther north is Milvian Bridge, one of the evening meeting spots in north Rome.

Where to eat before or after Magica

Inside the Auditorium there's a bar and a café in the foyer and a bar-restaurant also accessible from the street, the most convenient option between one show and another.

In the neighborhood

Between the Villaggio Olimpico, Via Flaminia and Piazza Mancini there are pizzerias, trattorias and cafés frequented mainly by residents. During the long weekend it's best to book.

Milvian Bridge

If you'd rather have dinner after the evening shows, you'll find the widest choice at Ponte Milvio, where places stay open until late.

The Immaculate Conception long weekend in Rome

Between December 6 and 8 Rome enters the holiday season: the lights go on in the streets of the center and the Immaculate Conception long weekend brings visitors to the city from all over Italy. The days are short, sunset comes early, the evenings are cool. Magica is designed precisely for these days: a Christmas program, the Auditorium says, for those who want to spend a holiday afternoon or evening with the wonder of magic.

Frequently asked questions about Magica at the Auditorium

When is Magica at Auditorium Parco della Musica?

Magica, a series of prodigious shows, takes place at Auditorium Parco della Musica Ennio Morricone in Rome from Sunday, December 6 to Tuesday, December 8, 2026, with eight events between 11:00 and 20:00, in Sala Petrassi, at Teatro Studio Borgna and at Studio 3.

How much are Magica tickets?

Magica tickets at the Auditorium start from 10 euros for Giancarlo Scalia, from 15 euros for Scimemi and for the meeting with Raul Cremona, from 20 euros for the Gran Galà and for the Lucchettino, and from 30 euros for Vanni De Luca, according to the official pages.

Who are the illusionists at Magica?

Magica features Raul Cremona, Francesco Scimemi, Vanni De Luca, the Lucchettino, Giancarlo Scalia and, in the Club Magico di Roma's Gran Galà, Raffaello Corti, Ottavio Belli and Claudia Veneziano, Lupis, Leonardo Panetti, Francesco Miccoli, Novas, Dorian and The Phobias.

Is Magica suitable for children?

Yes, Magica is designed for an audience of all ages. The Gran Galà di Illusionismo on Sunday, December 6 at 16:00 and Giancarlo Scalia's show on December 8 are presented as shows for the whole family.

Where do you buy Magica tickets?

Magica tickets are bought from the official page of each show on the Auditorium Parco della Musica website, which links to the authorized presale circuit, or at the complex's box office, open every day from 11:00 to 20:00.

How do you get to Auditorium Parco della Musica?

Auditorium Parco della Musica is reached on tram 2 from Piazzale Flaminio, Metro A, getting off at Flaminia/Reni or Apollodoro, or on buses 910 from Termini, 53 and 982. On December 8 the holiday schedule applies.

What is the Club Magico di Roma?

The Club Magico di Roma is the oldest magicians' club in the capital, founded in 1957, and it organizes the Trofeo Arsenio. Its president, Davide Spada, directs Magica's Gran Galà di Illusionismo.

Can you see several Magica shows on the same day?

Yes, Magica's times let you combine several shows: on Sunday, December 6 the meeting with Cremona at 11:00, the Gran Galà at 16:00 and Scimemi at 20:00, and on Tuesday the 8th Scalia's performances at 12:00, 18:00 and 20:00 and the Lucchettino at 16:00. Each show has its own ticket.

What does Vanni De Luca do in Prodigi?

In Prodigi, at the Auditorium on December 7, Vanni De Luca memorizes hundreds of pages of a book, solves math puzzles in a few seconds, writes and speaks backward and solves the Rubik's cube while reciting cantos of the Divine Comedy chosen by the audience.

Final advice on Magica

Magica is one of the most successful ideas of Rome's Christmas program: three days of illusionism in a complex built for music, with artists ranging from TV variety to table magic, from clowning to feats of memory. The advice is to choose one show, or two, according to the kind of wonder you're looking for, buy early for the small rooms and arrive ahead of time on the crowded days of the long weekend. In our view, for a family, Sunday with the Galà and Tuesday with Scalia and the Lucchettino are the best days. For a curious adult, the Vanni De Luca evening is the one that stays longest in the memory.

Article written by the editorial team of Tour Leader Pro, contact them for Private/Corporate/V.I.P. Tours and Experiences.

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