This festival is also one of the most beautiful because the famous basilicas of Ravenna, decorated with mosaics, which are included in the UNESCO World Heritage List, have been chosen as the venue.
This year marks the centenary of the Italian writer Italo Calvino, and Calvino’s novel has become the thematic guideline of the Ravenna Festival Invisible cities name. Since the author in this work depicts experiences, memories and desires rather than real places, his anniversary gives the festival organizers the opportunity to reflect on the dual nature of the city: the city is both a symbol of people’s coexistence, an intersection of cultures, ideas and stories, as well as community crises – inequality, consumer culture , the embodiment of standardization, pollution and other problems. The festival events traditionally emphasize Ravenna’s identity as a “melting pot” – this city has historically been a strategically important crossroads between the West and the East.
Pianist Marta Argerich and cellist Misha Maiskis will perform in Ravenna on June 8. Publicity photo
On June 7, the festival program will be opened by the legendary multimedia artist, New York avant-garde culture icon Laurie Anderson, who performed a concert Let X = X. On June 8, the duo of pianist Marta Argerich and cellist Misha Maiska will be welcomed in Ravenna, they will perform sonatas for cello and piano by Beethoven, Chopin and Debussy.
In the following weeks, you will be able to hear music of all genres at the festival. Commemorating rock legend Frank Zappa on the 30th anniversary of his death, the collective Park of Contemporary Music Ensemble (PMCE) will play Zappa’s masterpiece The Yellow Sharkwhile in honor of the 20th anniversary of the death of composer Luciano Berio, soloist Ljuba Bergamelli and the ensemble Icarus vs Muzak will complete his cycle Folk songs. Concerts will be given by violinists Leonids Kavak and Anne Sofija Mutere (she will come with her team Mutter’s Virtuosi), pianists Beatrice Rana and Yefim Bronfman, singer Aurora, West African music star Fatumata Diawara, indie rock band Fast Animals and Slow Kids with a symphony orchestra, jazz-rock guitarist Mike Stern with his band, vocal ensembles The King’s Singers and The Tallis Scholarschoir Darkness etc. Conductors Julian Rahlins and Kristjans Jervi will be at the helm of the Luigi Cherubini Youth Orchestra.
Every year, the Ravenna Festival features maestro Riccardo Muti, who lives in Ravenna. The founder and honorary president of the festival is his wife Kristina Macavillāni-Muti. This time he will conduct two programs. In the first of them, which will play the works of Gluck, Bellini and Brahms, the young musicians of the Amman National Conservatory will join the Luigi Cherubini Youth Orchestra created by Riccardo Muti. This concert is included in the festival project Paths of friendship: On July 7, the program will be played in Ravenna, on July 9 – in Jerash, Jordan, on July 11 – in Pompeii. On the other hand, in his second program with the Luigi Cherubini Youth Orchestra, Riccardo Muti has included the works of Nino Rota, Manuel de Falla and Maurice Ravel (in Ravenna on July 20).
The festival will include dance and theater performances, as well as film screenings (Fritz Lang Metropole and Charlie Chaplin The great dictator) accompanied by music.
2023-06-07 16:32:37
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