The Festival della Valle d'Itria is a summer

opera festival 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 Early music festivals, list of early music festivals. Opera is part of the Western clas ...

held in the south eastern Italian town of Martina Franca in the

Apulia Apulia ( ), also known by its Italian language, Italian name Puglia (), is a Regions of Italy, region of Italy, located in the Southern Italy, southern peninsular section of the country, bordering the Adriatic Sea to the east, the Strait of Ot ...

region. The Festival was founded in 1975 and performances are given in July and August each summer on a specially constructed stage in the outdoor courtyard of the Palazzo Ducale. The primary aim of the festival is to present obscure, neglected or rarely performed works, and often works in the standard operatic repertoire are given in their original versions. At the fiftieth anniversary festival in 2024, the original two-soprano version of '' Norma'' was revived, alongside Handel’s Ariodante, and Nino Rota’s ''Aladino e la lampada magica''.

History

The Festival della Valle d'Itria is held annually in the south eastern Italian town of Martina Franca in the

region. The Festival was founded in 1975 and performances are given in July and August each summer on a specially constructed stage in the outdoor courtyard of the Palazzo Ducale. The original vision for the festival is credited to Paolo Grassi, and it was brought to fruition by Rodolfo Celletti, after Bassi's death in 1981. From 2022 the German opera manager Sebastian F. Schwarz served as Artistic Director, followed by Silvia Colasanti from 2025. The longtime music director is Fabio Luisi. The primary aim of the festival is to present obscure, neglected or rarely performed works, and often works in the standard operatic repertoire are given in their original versions (such as Verdi's original 1857 version of '' Simon Boccanegra''). The festival celebrated its fiftieth year in 2024 with a production of the original two-soprano version of Bellini's ''Norma''. Jacquelyn Wagner played Norma, while Valentina Farcaş sang Adalgisa. Alongside Norma, the 2024 festival also presented Handel’s Ariodante, starring Cecilia Molinari, in a new edition by Bernardo Ticci, and Nino Rota’s ''Aladino e la lampada magica''. For the 2025 festival the theme is war and peace, with planned performances of Rossini's '' Tancredi'', Britten's '' Owen Wingrave'' and Ravel's '' L’enfant et les sortilèges''.

Notable revivals

Notable revivals include: *33rd Festival 2007 '' Marcella'' by Umberto Giordano *34th Festival 2008 '' Pelagio (opera)'' by Saverio Mercadante *2012 '' Artaserse'' (1730 Venice version) by Hasse *2015 '' Medea in Corinto'' by Mayr *2017 '' Margherita d'Anjou'' by

Giacomo Meyerbeer Giacomo Meyerbeer (born Jakob Liebmann Meyer Beer; 5 September 1791 – 2 May 1864) was a German opera composer, "the most frequently performed opera composer during the nineteenth century, linking Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Mozart and Richard Wa ...

*2022 '' Il Xerse'' by

Francesco Cavalli Francesco Cavalli (born Pietro Francesco Caletti-Bruni; 14 February 1602 – 14 January 1676) was a Venetian composer, organist and singer of the early Baroque period. He succeeded his teacher Claudio Monteverdi as the dominant and leading op ...

*2023 '' L'Orazio'' by Pietro Auletta

References

External links

Official Festival website, in English
{{authority control Opera festivals in Italy Martina Franca Tourist attractions in Apulia 1975 establishments in Italy Music festivals established in 1975