Este Music Festival in Modena
Sara Mantovani October 10, 2011
The beautiful city of Modena was governed by the Este family and in 1598 became their capital; in 1998 the festival “Grandezze & Meraviglie” was created to celebrate the anniversary and to point out the great and unique value of the musical heritage of the past centuries in Modena and in the territories that belonged to the Este family.
Until the 3rd of December you can enjoy Grandezze & Meraviglie, which in its 14th edition will host big names of international music and new and up-and-coming artists. As usual, concerts will be in different towns; the venues will be in churches, castles, palaces and museums.
This festival is an important ancient music event with both national and international artists, but it is also closely linked to this region. Taking place in Modena, Vignola, Villa Sorra, Sassuolo and, new this year, also Soliera, this festival involves historic cities which will open the doors of their most charming monuments to host ancient music concerts.
Grandezze & Meraviglie organizes concert-lessons, with famous musicians, offering to scholars and students a really important experience, to discover music and ancient instruments.
A series of conferences and meetings will be also offered: the theme of “travel” will be expressed through arts such as painting, architecture, policy, and music.
Here the complete program.
Being in Modena you can also take your time and have a stroll in the historical city centre, Piazza Grande is the heart of Modena: you can there admire the medieval cathedral and the Ghirlandina tower – both have been recognised by Unesco as heritage of mankind – and the Town Hall, a structure composed of various buildings that sprang up over the centuries starting in the Middle Ages and that is still today seat of the Municipality.
In the nearest Piazza Roma you will find the 17th century Ducal Palace, headquarters of the Military Academy. Coming back to via Emilia you can continue towards Piazza S.Agostino where you can visit the church and admire the splendid “Mourning the body of Christ” by Begarelli. And also Palazzo dei Musei, the seat of many prestigious cultural institutes, such as the Municipal Museums, the Estense Gallery housing one of the most important Italian collections which reflects the interest the Estenses had in painting and sculpture, but also in archaeology and other minor arts. As an example the Estense Epigraphic Museum hosts many exhibits of high artistic value and the Estense Library preserves precious illuminated codes from the 14th to the 16th century.
