The 31st Ravenna Festival will
kick off on June 21 with a concert by the Giovanile Cherubini
Orchestra conducted by Riccardo Muti.
The first festival not directed by Cristina Mazzavillani
Muti, who is now honorary president, features a programme of 40
events running until July 30.
They will all take place with full respect of the measures
imposed due to the COVID-19 emergency, with the base being at
the Rocca Brancaleone.
This was the theatre that played host to the festival's
inaugural concert way back in 1990 and, on that occasion too,
Riccardo Muti was the conductor.
Just like then, the notes of Mozart will be played, with
Symphony No. 41 and some sections sung by the soprano Rosa
Feola.
Riccardo Muti and his orchestra, who have always been
cornerstones of the festival, will return on July 3 for the
traditional concert of friendship between peoples.
This year it is dedicated to Syria and it will be repeated on
July 5 at Paestum: Beethoven's Eroica symphony will be performed
together with the Syrian National Symphonic Orchestra.
Muti will be back again on July 12 for a programme devoted
entirely to Dvorák, featuring the Cello Concert (soloist Tamás
Varga, who was the Wiener Philharmoniker's top cello player for
a long time) and the From the New World symphony.
The Cherubini Orchestra will be conducted on June 28 by
Valery Gergiev, with the Third Concert (pianist Beatrice Rana)
and the Pastoral Symphony, a tribute to Beethoven on the 250th
anniversary of this birth.
The symphonic programme is completed with the Budapest
Festival Orchestra, with founder Ivan Fischer, playing the music
of Wagner, Britten and Haydn on July 1.
Presented by Ravenna Manifestazioni Superintendent Andrea de
Rosa and Ravenna Mayor Michele De Pascale, the 2020 Festival
will spread out into the surrounding province, with events at
larger venues at Lugo and Cervia in order to go over
300-spectator capacity that the Rocca Brancaleone can host at
the moment for safety reasons.
"Despite the restrictions that have been imposed and the
reduced number of places, we have kept prices down, from five to
40 euros, so that the public does not have to pay the price of
the crisis," they said.
The Ravenna Festival has always been multidisciplinary and
once again this year it is opening up to dance, theatre, cinema
and the figurative arts.
So the programme features the debuts of two productions
conceived during the lockdown, 'Duets and Solos', and 'Ci sono
giorni che non accadono' (There are days that don't happen), a
piece written by Valerio Cappelli on virtual relations in a time
of pandemic, featuring Sergio Castellitto and Isabella Ferrari
and music by Ennio Morricone.
There will be tributes to three figures who portrayed the
essence of Romagna: Federico Fellini, Tonino Guerra and
Pellegrino Artusi.
The festival is also preparing a digital platform that will
broadcast the events so people can enjoy them for free from
home.
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