Maggio Musicale Fiorentino 2019

Launch of the 82nd edition of the Florence Opera Festival with concerts, operas and many side shows

From 02 May 2019 to 28 June 2019

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Lovers of classical music and bel canto, take pen and paper and make a note of these dates in your diary: from 2 May to 28 June Maggio Musicale Fiorentino Festival 2019 will host the highly anticipated opera in Florence! The music festival of Florence will host classical music concerts, ballet, opera and theatre works while numerous side events, some with free entry, will take place at other theatres, music halls and other locations in the historic centre.

This prestigious event, founded in 1937 by composer and orchestra conductor Vittorio Gui, is one of the oldest and most prestigious festivals in Europe, thanks to the cultural and stylistic choices of the organizers, that each year attract thousands of spectators in the Tuscan capital. First among these, the great importance given to visual exposure in the operas, which has led to a valuable partnership with the most famous film and theatre directors in the world.

We should also underline the constant presence of great performers who, year after year, have contributed to the prestige of this great and highly anticipated event.

Are you ready to discover the rich program of the 82nd Maggio Musicale Fiorentino Festival?

The start is set for 2 May, a day coinciding with the 500th anniversary of Leonardo da Vinci’s death, with a talk by the writer Claudio Magris in the lecture hall of the University of Florence and a free-entry concert by the brass section of the orchestra of the Maggio Music Festival in Florence (Italy), to be held in the evocative setting of the Loggia dei Lanzi in Piazza della Signoria. From here on, until 28 June, Florence will be swept away by a music wave that will reveal itself in all its forms: symphonic, chamber, contemporary, opera, dance but also thought-provoking links with theatrical representations. A wave that, from Florence, will also reach Lucca, Pisa and Livorno with concerts staged in these towns too.

OPERA. Also, during the 2019 Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, the opera house in Florence will host a series of truly unmissable performances that will satisfy all fans of the genre: from the most traditional to those who love more modern and innovative versions. There are five shows included in the program of the 82nd edition of Florence May Festival: 

• Lear
  2, 5, 9 May, Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino
  The 1978 work by Albert Reinman is based on the Shakespeare’s character of King Lear whose descent into the abyss of madness is an inevitable and violent situation relived by the music of the Berlin composer. It is presented in Florence with the staging of the Opera National de Paris, directed by Carlo Bleito, while the Choir and Orchestra del Maggio are conducted by Fabio Luisi.

• La straniera
  14, 16, 19 May, Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino
  This melodrama, based on the libretto by Felice Romani and inspired by the novel l’Etranger by Charles-Victor Prevost d’Arlincourt, debuted at the Scala in 1829. The new production staged at the Festival of the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino is directed by Fabio Luisi.

• Le leggi fondamentali della stupidità umana
  25, 29, 31 May, Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino
  This a new production to be staged at the Music Festival in Florence in 2019, created by Vittorio Montalti, commissioned by the Florence festival of symphonic music and inspired by Carlo M. Cipolla’s book. It is a sort of theory on stupidity but also a humorous invitation not to underestimate the potential of the stupid people we meet in our everyday life.

• The Marriage of Figaro
  15, 17, 19, 21 June, Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino
  It is the first of the three masterpieces by Mozart in collaboration with Lorenzo dal Ponte, which debuted in Vienna in 1786. It is a particularly lively score where, thanks to the music, the characters are deeply and thoroughly represented. In the rich program of Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, the new production is directed by Sonia Bergamasco and is part of a larger all-female project.

• Intermedi della Pellegrina
  16, 18, 22 June, Grotta Buontalenti
  The musical interludes inserted between the acts of a theatrical show are considered the precursors of musical opera. In 1589 in Florence for the marriage between Grand Duke Ferdinand I and Christina of Lorraine, Giovanni Bardi was commissioned to create interludes for the play ‘La Pellegrina’. The six interludes that include multi-voice madrigals, double and triple choirs and solo pieces, will be showcased in the program of opera in Florence (Italy) in 2019 with a new production in collaboration with Gallerie degli Uffizi.

CONCERTS. The Maggio Musicale Fiorentino program in 2019 lists more than 20 concerts, ranging from classical music, including symphonic and chamber, to contemporary music, as is the case with the two concerts Tempo Reale/Maggio Elettrico. The symphonic events of the 82nd Florence Festival will see the return to Florence of Zubin Metha, almost a regular presence of the event, with several dates dedicated to him. Another big name on the stage of Festival del Maggio 2019 will be maestro Riccardo Muti, in Florence directing the Luigi Cherubini Youth Orchestra with the Bavarian Radio choir in Giovanni Paisiello's Missa Defuntroum. Chamber music, performed following different interpretations, will also see in some cases the participation of narrating voices such as Valeria Solarino and Sergio Rubini. These are just a few examples, have a look at the program of Maggio Musicale Fiorentino because there so many and interesting events!

DANCE. Who else could have kicked off this section if not Virgilio Sieni, the choreographer who chose Florence as the home for his company? There will be a free event at the Palazzina dell'Indiano (Parco delle Cascine) on 4 May. Next will be Excelsior by Salvo Lombardo, a modern reinterpretation of the famous 1881 'Excelsior Ball', staged on 7 May. The dance highlight, at the Florence May Festival in 2019, will be showcased at the Teatro della Pergola, Florence, by Martha Graham Dance Company, a unique and rare event in Italy. The company of the historic pioneer of modern music will showcase a series of events from 11 to 13 June.

So, are you ready to let yourself be swept away by the music? Once again, it will take centre stage at the new edition of Maggio Musicale Fiorentino festival in 2019! Come to Florence in May and June to enjoy some of the fantastic events of the festival and take the opportunity to visit the city. Among our tours in Florence, you will find many ideas to make the most of your time in the cradle of the Renaissance.