100 years after Italo Calvino was born, the 34th edition of RAVENNA FESTIVAL presents a rich programme of events – from music to ballet and theatre.
As Italo Calvino depicted his Invisible Cities as experiences, memories and desires rather than real places, the centenary of the writer’s birth provides this Ravenna Festival’s edition with a chance to reflect on the twofold nature of the city as a symbol of both the community and its crises.
Following the double opening on 7 and 8 June, featuring respectively Laurie Anderson and Martha Argerich flanked by Mischa Maisky, the Festival’s narrative unfolds until 23 July.
From 15 to 20 December, Riccardo Muti – who will have been on the podium of his Cherubini Orchestra for The Roads of Friendship and a concert with Támas Varga – conducts a triptych consisting of a Verdi gala and two operas from the Italian repertoire.
Foremost in the constellation of soloists of the summer programme of Ravenna Festival are Anne-Sophie Mutter, Leōnidas Kavakos, Yefim Bronfman and Beatrice Rana. The latter plays Rachmaninov for an evening with ballet stars (the dance programme also includes the Italian premiere of WE, the EYES by Emio Greco and Pieter C. Scholten).
Titles that portray the dark side of civilisation are contrasted with a celebration of dialogue between cultures and genres: from the pacifism of Aristophanes’s Acarnesi to Frank Zappa’s Yellow Shark and Luciano Berio’s Folk Songs.
Among the guest artists: Stefano Bollani, Aurora, The Tallis Scholars, Tenebrae Choir, The King’s Singers, Sinfonia Varsovia, Eleonora Abbagnato, Sergio Bernal, Fatoumata Diawara, Mike Stern…
