A Ferragosto in music
From Salzburg to Milan, from London to San Teodoro... all the best of the must-see events
2' min read
2' min read
Our musical journey begins on the eve of Ferragosto, in the city of this newspaper: from 5.30 p.m. to 9 p.m. we ride around City Hall 3 on the Magic Bus, where a brass band plays; at 9.30 p.m. in Piazza Leonardo Da Vinci we listen to James Brown is dead, black music and rhythm and blues, with the sax of Waldo Weathers. This for Milan is Viva, the programme that brings music, theatre, workshops, meetings and much more to all the Municipalities, in the summer and until October.
Pienza
If we are already out and about in Italy, then on the same 14th evening we enter the Cathedral of Pienza, one of the most exemplary monuments of the Italian Renaissance, reflecting the architectural canons of Leon Battista Alberti, in a town that is a Unesco heritage site for its original stylistic unity, one of the most significant realisations of humanistic ideals of the 15th century. There we hear the Siena Cathedral Choir in a fine sacred programme between the great 16th-century Palestrina and the contemporary Arvo Pärt, for the summer festival of the Siena Accademia Chigiana.
San Teodoro
If, on the other hand, we are in Sardinia, we will reach the Peschiera della Laguna di San Teodoro on the 16th, a precious ecosystem with a rich heritage of flora and fauna, adjacent to the Tavolara-Punta Coda Cavallo Protected Marine Area. With the trumpet of Paolo Fresu and his Devil Quartet we will listen to the final concert of the 38th Time in Jazz festival.
Salzburg
And beyond the borders? At the 105th Salzburg Festival - founded, let us remember, by legendary figures in theatre and music such as Max Reinhardt, Hugo von Hofmannsthal and Richard Strauss - the offer is rich over the August bank holiday. We choose on 15-16-17 the Vienna Philharmonic conducted by Muti, with Schubert's Symphony No. 4 and Bruckner's Mass No. 3 by Bruckner; on the 16th the world premiere of "Der Schneesturm" (English surtitles) from the novel by the dissident Vladimir Sorokin, directed by Kirill Serebrennikov (who left Russia after the invasion of Ukraine); on the 17th the premiere of Mozart's rare unfinished "Zaide" (remember the beautiful version with text completed by Calvino at the Fenice in Venice).
Glyndebourne
We can't miss the picnic lawns of the Glyndebourne Festival, where on the 15th we see 'Falstaff', by Verdi; on the 16th 'Nozze di Figaro', by Mozart; and on the 17th 'Káťa Kabanová', by Jánaček, the beautiful play directed by Damiano Michieletto, staged in 2021 and now revived; conducted by Robin Ticciati, the Festival's musical director, with the London Philharmonic Orchestra.
