Revellers at the Glyndebourne Festival © Mike Hoban, 2009

The summer festival season is upon us; picnics, hazy evenings and beautiful music amidst beautiful scenery. Here is just a tiny snapshot of some of the festivals bringing classical music to life across Europe over the warmer months.

One of England’s most celebrated is the Glyndebourne Festival, which this year boasts an operatic schedule featuring Mozart’s classic Così fan tutte alongside Engelbert Humperdinck’s fairytale opera Hänsel und Gretel.

Nestling in the grounds of a country house in East Sussex, Glyndebourne performances are shown live around the world and often captured for posterity on DVD. The festival opened on May 20th and will run until the end of August.

2010’s Zurich Festival incorporates opera, drama, dance and art and opened on June 18th, running until July 11th. The festival burst open with a party at the Theaterhaus Gessnerallee, then launched straight into a Midsummer Night’s Ball on the concourse of Zurich’s Main Station. One of the most anticipated performances is Richard Strauss’ passionate and eye-opening opera Salome, starring on the bill throughout the festival.

The Salzburg festival in Austria takes place between the 25th of July and the 30th of August in a collection of stunning venues across the city’s theatre quarter. 

Röcklbrunnstraße 6, 5020 Salzburg © Fritz Haseke, 2009

Welcoming just shy of quarter of a million visitors across the duration of the festival, one of this year’s programme highlights is Lulu by Alban Berg.

The Athens and Epidaurus festival opens in Greece on June 26th and will be staging a new Greek Opera performance of Wagner’s final opera, Parsifal. The festival venues are the 2,500 year old Epidaurus amphitheatre and the Acropolis – surely a contender for most breathtaking setting. The festival runs until September 12th.  

The Acropolis © Svilen Enev, 2004* 

Scenes of ancient beauty aren’t to be found just in Greece, however. Finland’s Savonlinna Opera Festival is situated amidst the country’s stunning lake district, at Olavinlinna, the medieval St. Olaf’s Castle. Alongside an internationally recognised singing competition, the festival boasts a programme crammed with classics including a new production of Puccini’s dramatic Tosca and Mozart’s deft society comedy, Le Nozze di Figaro.

There are too many to list and so many worth mentioning. Let us know in the comments box what your favourite summer festivals have been or what upcoming events have caught your eye.

 

*Svilen Even's photo of the Acropolis is licenced for reuse under a GNU Free Documentation Licence, details of which can be found here