Critic's choice
Festival
The 20th Edition of Misteria Pischelia Festival
The 20th edition of the festival Misteria Paschalia based in Kraków is to celebrate its unique and rich history, as well as to analyze how much the world of early music has changed during this time. The Misteria Paschalia festival has had a great impact on the development of the sector in Poland and Europehosting the most outstanding representatives of historical performance, from Jordi Savall, whose contribution to the development and popularization of early music cannot be overestimated, to Italian masters like Fabio Biondi, Ottavio Dantone, Giovanni Antonini, and French - Vincent Dumestre, Christophe Rousset and Marc Minkowski.
This year's program is a reflection of the 20th edition festival’s motto "Celebrating music, history and relationships". The greatest ensembles such as Le Poème Harmonique, Ensemble Correspondance or Les Talens Lyriques will perform in Kraków. Among the concerts there is also an interesting program of accompanying events, such as lectures on visual art or educational concerts for the youngest audience.
Festival
Bayreuth Baroque Festival 2023
In its fourth edition, the BAYREUTH BAROQUE opera festival will offer two staged opera productions for the first time in autumn 2023. At the opening, artistic director Max Emanuel Cencic will present his take on Handel's Flavio, Re de' Longobardi. A political satire with which the composer took the stereotypes of the heroic opera in his stride, surprising not only the London audience of the time. With the castrato Senesino and the prima donna Francesca Cuzzoni, the London premiere in 1723 featured two of the top stars of the opera scene at the time. Exactly 300 years later, the audience can now expect an equally virtuosic ensemble led by Julia Lezhneva, Yuriy Mynenko and Max Emanuel Cencic. They are accompanied by Concerto Köln under Benjamin Bayl.
The second premiere takes us back to the birth of opera to Monteverdi's L'Orfeo, which is translated into the 21st century with transcriptions, live electronics and partly newly composed music. Rolando Villazón embodies the title role of this exciting new version.
In addition to the performances in the Margravial Opera House, the music is also taken out into the city with a series of top-class concerts. These include gala evenings with Valer Sabadus and Daniel Behle in the opera house and concerts with Véronique Gens and Bruno de Sá in historic Margravial churches. Concerto Köln, one of the most important and significant baroque orchestras in Germany will be Orchestra in Residence.
Concert
Orchestre de la Suisse Romande New Season 23-24
The Orchestre de la Suisse Romande is one of Switzerland's leading orchestras and a world-renowned ensemble. Composed of 112 musicians, the OSR, as it's commonly called in Switzerland, celebrated its centenary in 2018. It gives about a hundred concerts in Geneva and Lausanne each year, as well as the symphony concerts of the City of Geneva, the annual concert in aid of the UN, and opera performances at the Grand Théâtre de Genève. Its reputation has been built up over the years through its historic recordings and its interpretation of 20th century French and Russian repertoire. Since 2017 the British conductor Jonathan Nott has been the Orchestra's musical and artistic director.
For its 2023-24 concert season, the Orchestra is pleased to welcome renowned conductors and guest artists such as Maria João Pires, Renaud Capuçon, Martha Argerich, Janine Jansen, Bertrand Chamayou, Patricia Kopatchinskaja, Martin Fröst, Marin Alsop, Myung-Whun Chung, TuganSokhiev, Daniele Gatti and HannuLintu.
This season's programme includes Dvorak's'New World' Symphony and the essential pieces of the choral repertoire, such as the requiems by Verdi and Fauré. You will also discover the world premiere of a new piece for clarinet by Michael Jarrell, one of the most talented Swiss composers of our time.
We look forward to welcoming you to the 2023-24 season and sharing our enthusiasm and passion for music with you. Don't wait any longer to subscribe: by phone (+41 (0) 22 807 00 00) or on our website [osr-abo.ch]osr-abo.ch.
We look forward to welcoming you soon!