The Olympics went big for their Opening Ceremony — literally

One of the more delightful visual moments from the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony wasn’t an athlete at all — it was the trio of oversized “big heads” representing three towering figures from Italy’s rich musical legacy: Giuseppe Verdi, Giacomo Puccini and Gioachino Rossini. These giant, caricatured figures danced and moved through the ceremony alongside dancers and performers, offering a surreal, almost carnival-like nod to classical music’s place in Italian culture.

These composers aren’t just names in a music textbook. They helped define the Italian operatic tradition and influenced centuries of Western music. Verdi’s dramatic operas like “La Traviata” and “Aida” made him a symbol of Italian cultural identity. Puccini’s melodic gift in works like “La Bohème” and “Tosca” captured emotional intensity and sweeping romanticism. Rossini’s wit and brilliance in pieces such as “The Barber of Seville” defined a lighter side of Italian opera.

Bringing them to life — albeit in giant, comically oversized form — tied the ceremony’s artistic celebration to a broader narrative about Italy’s impact on global culture.

The inclusion of these figures also underscores a clear choice they made for the Opening Ceremonies: this was not going to be a generic sporting pageant but a showcase of Italian arts. While the caricatures certainly felt closers to the oversized bobbleheads at a baseball game or characters at a theme park, their presence amid dance and colors for the opening number was more of a nod to Italy’s musical and creative history.

The creative team leaned into historically significant cultural icons whose work has shaped centuries of storytelling through music and performance.

This artistic emphasis also aligns with the ceremony’s broader theme of “Harmony” — not just musically, but culturally, blending opera with fashion tributes, dance, and modern pop performances. It’s a reminder that Italy didn’t just host the Games. It curated a cultural conversation about what tradition and creativity look like on the world stage.

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Meanwhile, there was only brief appearances of the official 2026 mascots — twin stoats named Tina and Milo in the Opening Ceremony, a few quick shots of a child holding them as stuffed toys on an Italian tram with the Italian President.

But the mascots and these artistic figures bring a lighter, more playful energy to Games branding, but they served a different purpose: accessibility and universal appeal rather than historical gravitas. The mascots were chosen via a public design contest and represent curiosity, resilience and the spirit of the Alps and Lombardy and named for the primary host cities CosTINA and MILanO.

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