The Maggio Musicale Fiorentino (English: Florence Musical May) is an annual Italian arts festival in Florence, including a notable
opera festival, under the auspices of the Opera di Firenze. The festival occurs between late April into June annually, typically with four operas.
History
In April 1933, on 's idea,
Vittorio Gui founded the festival, with the aim of presenting contemporary and forgotten
opera
Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libr ...
s in visually dramatic productions. It was the first music festival in Italy and the oldest in Europe after the
Salzburg Festival
The Salzburg Festival (german: Salzburger Festspiele) is a prominent festival of music and drama established in 1920. It is held each summer (for five weeks starting in late July) in the Austrian town of Salzburg, the birthplace of Wolfgang Ama ...
. The first opera presented was
Verdi
Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi (; 9 or 10 October 1813 – 27 January 1901) was an Italian composer best known for his operas. He was born near Busseto to a provincial family of moderate means, receiving a musical education with the ...
's early ''
Nabucco
''Nabucco'' (, short for Nabucodonosor ; en, "Nebuchadnezzar") is an Italian-language opera in four acts composed in 1841 by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Temistocle Solera. The libretto is based on the biblical books of 2 Kings, J ...
'', his early operas then being rarely staged. The first festival's success, which included two performances of Spontini's ''
La Vestale'' with
Rosa Ponselle, led to it becoming a biennial event in 1937 with the presentation of nine operas. After 1937, it became an annual festival, except during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
. Performances took place in the
Teatro Comunale and Piccolo Teatro, plus the
Teatro della Pergola. A new opera house, the Teatro dell'Opera di Firenze, was inaugurated in 2011 and permanently replaced the former Teatro Comunale in 2014.
Former musical directors were
Vittorio Gui (1928-1936),
Mario Rossi (1937-1946),
Bruno Bartoletti
Bruno Bartoletti (Sesto Fiorentino, 10 June 1926 – Florence, 9 June 2013) was an Italian operatic conductor. His active international career lasted from 1953 to 2007, and he specialized in the Italian repertory and contemporary works. He wa ...
(1957-1964), and
Riccardo Muti (1969-1981).
Zubin Mehta
Zubin Mehta (born 29 April 1936) is an Indian conductor of Western classical music. He is music director emeritus of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra (IPO) and conductor emeritus of the Los Angeles Philharmonic.
Mehta's father was the fou ...
became principal conductor in 1985, and now has the title of honorary conductor for life. In January 2016, the Opera di Firenze announced the appointment of
Fabio Luisi
Fabio Luisi (born 17 January 1959) is an Italian conductor. He is currently principal conductor of the Danish National Symphony Orchestra, music director of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, and chief conductor of the NHK Symphony Orchestra.
Bio ...
as music director of the festival, the first conductor to hold that title, as of April 2018, with an initial contract of 5 years. In July 2019, Luisi resigned as music director of the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino with immediate effect. In July 2021, the festival announced the appointment of
Daniele Gatti as its next principal conductor, effective March 2022, with an initial contract of 3 years.
See also
*
List of opera festivals
This is an inclusive list of opera festivals and summer opera seasons, and music festivals which have opera productions. This list may have some overlap with list of early music festivals. Opera is part of the Western classical music tradition, ...
References
Sources
*Lynn, Karyl Charna, ''Italian Opera Houses and Festivals'', Lanham, Maryland: The Scarecrow Press, Inc., 2005.
External links
Official website of the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino
Culture in Florence
Opera festivals
Recurring events established in 1933
Festivals established in 1933
Music festivals established in 1933
Italian traditions
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