The Opera Festival at the Verona Arena was born on 10 August 1913, with the first performance of Aida commissioned by the Veronese tenor Giovanni Zenatello and the theater impresario Ottone Rovato to commemorate the centenary of Giuseppe Verdi's birth. For over a hundred years (except for two brief interruptions during the great wars) every summer the Roman amphitheater has been transformed into the largest open-air opera house in the world. The current organizational structure is the result of the reform sanctioned by the Legislative Decree. n. 134 of 1998 and by the Legislative Decree. 134 of 1998, which transformed opera companies into foundations governed by private law, thus giving life to the current Arena di Verona Foundation, and sanctioned the possibility of entry for private members. The current Founding Members of the Foundation are the Italian State, the Veneto Region, the Municipality of Verona, the Province of Verona and the Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Crafts and Agriculture of Verona. In the past they have been the Cariverona Foundation, the Banca Popolare di Verona and the Verona Philharmonic Academy.