Ravello Festival starts again with Roberto Bolle and Friends

The opening is entrusted to the artist who, more than anyone else in the world, embodies excellence in ballet. The Dawn Concert, a historic format that boasts countless attempts at imitation at all latitudes, will instead range from Puccini, Tchaikovsky and, of course, Wagner. This is the starting point for the Ravello Festival, an essential event on the Amalfi Coast in the summer calendars of classical music enthusiasts and others, whose 2024 edition offers 15 events between the venues of Villa Rufolo and the Auditorium Oscar Niemeyer from 30 June to 25 August.

The opening of the programme is set for Sunday 30 June at the Auditorium with the acclaimed ballet recital Roberto Bolle and Friends. The first appointment between classical and opera, on the other hand, will be on Sunday 7 July, when on the Belvedere of Villa Rufolo the San Carlo Theatre Orchestra of Naples, conducted by Giacomo Sagripanti, will alternate between the repertoire of Wagner and that of Puccini, the master of Italian opera whose death centenary falls this year. The same venue, on Thursday 11 July, for Laura Marzadori's violin, accompanied by the Benevento Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Michele Spotti, tackling Tchaikovsky's Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in D major op. 35 and Beethoven's celebrated Fifth. Again the Bonn composer will be the absolute protagonist on Saturday 13th July at the Belvedere with the equally famous Ninth performed by the Teatro San Carlo Orchestra and Chorus conducted by Edward Gardner with Ailyn Pérez (soprano), Elisabeth DeShong (mezzo-soprano), René Barbera (tenor) and Simon Keenlyside (baritone).

On Saturday 20 July at the Belvedere of Villa Rufolo, we go from one side of the ocean to the other with The Eight Seasons, a project that will see the Accademia di Santa Sofia Chamber Orchestra, led by Sonig Tchakerian, violinist and concertmaster, divide its time between Vivaldi's The Four Seasons and Astor Piazzolla's Cuatro Estaciones porteñas, in Luis Bacalov's arrangement. Wednesday 24 July at Villa Rufolo we look to the great tradition of Neapolitan music with Bello tiempo passato, a recital featuring the Cappella Neapolitana conducted by Antonio Florio. On Sunday 28 July in the Sala dei Cavalieri, Pavel Berman (violin) and Yenheniya Lysohor (piano) will perform the repertoires of Mozart, Prokofiev, Chausson, and de Sarasate. In the same location, on Sunday 4 August, Francesco Libetta's piano will perform Bosso, Gluck, Mozart and Bach, while on 7 August it will be jazz: on the Belvedere of Villa Rufolo, Danilo Rea and the Salerno Jazz Orchestra conducted by Demo Morselli will pay homage to the great Duke Ellington 50 years after his death.

The dawn concert on the Night of San Lorenzo will be given by the Giuseppe Verdi Philharmonic Orchestra of Salerno conducted by Alessandro Bonato who will perform Puccini's Symphonic Capriccio in F major, Wagner's Siegfried Idyll and Tchaikovsky's Fifth. Again on Sunday 18 August, at Villa Rufolo, the Slovenian Festival Orchestra conducted by George Pehlivanian will range from Wolf, Bruch and Bartoldi. Dialogue between music and literature, on Monday 19 August, with Racconti e note, a recital in which Michele Campanella and Maurizio de Giovanni will tackle Liszt's Sonata in B minor. A new tribute to Puccini and Italian opera on Wednesday 21 August will be entrusted to the Quartetto lirico italiano, while on Thursday 22 the trio i Virtuosi di Sansevero will perform. Grand finale, Sunday 25 August, at the Belvedere of Villa Rufolo with the Orchestra and Choirs of the Teatro Verdi of Salerno conducted by Michele Spotti who will perform Orff's Carmina Burana. Solo parts entrusted to Maria Sardaryan (soprano), Levy Sekgapane (tenor) and Markus Werba (baritone).