Amazing the Emilia Romagna Music Festival
Sara Mantovani July 13, 2012Until September 13 the exclusive summer events of Emilia Romagna Festival are back, dedicated to musical excellence and charming places with a very high quality program involving locations in 40 municipalities and 4 provinces, Bologna, Ferrara, Ravenna, and Forlì-Cesena.
Special little nooks around Emilia-Romagna, in many cases open to the public just for this occasion, will be the settings for these events: from the Cardello, the house museum of the poet Oriani, to the places of Rossini’s childhood, from the Palazzo Fantini in Tredozio to the Abbey of Pomposa, from the Abbey of San Mercuriale to the many fortresses of this region, the majestic Fortress of Imola, or the little jewels such as the fortresses of Riolo Terme or in Bagnara di Romagna not to mention the Arena of hay bails in Cotignola.
The Festival will alternate between important international musicians and promising young artists, impressive symphonic orchestras and prestigious chamber music groups, the first-ever Italian performance of contemporary musicians as well as a wide repertoire of classics.
Closing out an extraordinarily heterogeneous program of events will be the final concert on Thursday, September 13 in the enchanting central Piazza della Molinella in Faenza, with the Arturo Toscanini Philharmonic, directed by the prestigious baton of Israel Vinon, with a symphonic and concert repertoire from the 1800s and 1900s, with great soloists, and with the national premier of a new composition by Ennio Morricone. This prestigious and unique event will also mark the opening of the “winter” version of the Festival, held from September 2012 to spring 2013, in the historic Theater Masini of Faenza.
ERF celebrates fifty years of minimalism with other concerts throughout the 2012 season, with music by Nyman and another guest at the festival, Philip Glass, to whom the opening concert “Glass 75” is dedicated in a special evening with the participation of three excellent soloists, Claudio Astronio on the organ, Allar Kaasik on the violoncello and Massimo Mercelli on the flute (August 20, Imola).
Worth mentioning September 10, directed by Alberto Batisti, in a concert dedicated entirely to Johann Sebastian Bach in coproduction with the Umbra Music Festival (10 September, Forlì); the Italian premiere of “Il Flauto di Bach”, an ERF production with the famous pianist Ramin Bahrami, considered internationally among the most interesting living Bach musicians, who will perform with the flautist Massimo Mercelli (18 July, Abbazia di Pomposa).
Always dedicated to Bach, this concert of Cappella Augustana, the noted ensemble directed by Matteo Messori, with the participation of the soprano Olga Lehmann Balashova (24 July, Abbazia di Pomposa); the concert “Musica in Villa” with two internationally famous virtuosos, Alexander Hülschoff on the violoncello and Andreas Frölich on piano (2 September Casola Valsenio); and the great Noa accompanied by his historic guitarist Gil Dor, together with the prestigious Arturo Toscanini Philharmonic, under the direction of Ilian Mochiach, in a special concert, on August 14, to celebrate the first 100 years of the famous seaside town of Milano Marittima.
This program also highlights bel canto: in the splendid setting of Villa La Babina two opera stars, the soprano Paola Antonucci and the mezzo soprano Marianna Vinci, accompanied by Solisti del Teatro Regio di Parma in “Donne all’opera” (1 September, Sasso Morelli); and again, space for the voices of Coro Costanzo Porta in a very refined repertoire dedicated to choir chamber music from the 1800 and 1900s (4 September, Forlì).
Back again is the violoncellist Ramon Jaffé, a multifaceted artist, accompanied by Arturo “El Polaco” on flamenco guitar and by the dancing of Miguelete in a flamenco show that mixes classical, popular traditions, and contemporary trends with a second part dedicated to improvisation and the audience in the setting if the hay bail Arena in Cotignola (29 July). After years of recitals, Ivano Marescotti will perform in “Nessun attore può venire da Bagnacavallo”, an incredible but true story: the journey from Villanova di Bagnacavallo, working in a factory making fruit boxes, to Hollywood with Ridley Scott (Castel San Pietro, 2 September).
Alongside the big well known artists, you can also see young talents. In the jazz category, the group Marta Del Grandi Quartet will perform (August 9, Abbazia di Pomposa); for the Primo Premio!, dedicated to new talents who were recognized in the most important national and international competitions, four events with the Calidore String Quartet, winner of the Fischoff Chamber Music Competition 2011 in South Bend (USA), who will debut in Italy at the Emilia Romagna Festival (August 27 in Forlì; August 28 in Budrio; August 29 in Imola; August 30 at the Rocca San Casciano) and the winners of the International Chamber Music Competition “Salieri-Zinetti” 2011 in Verona, the sax-piano duo Arakelyan – Korolev (July 26, Imola) and the Sonic.Art – Saxophone Quartet (Varignana, August 4).
More info: info@erfestival.org
