Arena Martinelli-Pertile

Two tenors were born in Montagnana in 1885 — Giovanni Martinelli in October, Aureliano Pertile in November — and between them they carried the leading Italian dramatic-tenor roles at the Metropolitan Opera and La Scala for a generation. The walled Venetian town remembers both in the name of its open-air arena, which serves as the summer stage for opera and concerts in a place whose medieval ramparts still stand complete.