29 Jul BETWEEN LAKE AND MOUNTAINS – 39th Music Festival
BETWEEN LAKE AND MOUNTAINS – 39th Music Festival
BETWEEN LAKE AND MOUNTAINS: 39th Music Festival
The 39th Music Festival continues in Varenna with two new events dedicated to original and engaging musical journeys. The programme offers audiences two evenings of outstanding performances: a voyage through 20th-century American music with the Ensemble Duomo, and the elegance of the wind quintet repertoire performed by the WindQuintet.
2 August – Ensemble Duomo
Great American Music of the 20th Century
On Saturday, 2 August at 9:15 pm, the enchanting setting of Villa Cipressi will host the Ensemble Duomo in the concert Great American Music of the 20th Century.
The ensemble features Roberto Porroni (guitar), Letizia Spaggiari (flute), Yoko Morimyo (violin), Antonio Leofreddi (viola), Marcella Schiavelli (cello), and Gerardo Capaldo (percussion and typewriter), presenting a fascinating journey through some of the most celebrated works of 20th-century American music.
The programme brings together timeless melodies by George Gershwin, unforgettable film scores by Henry Mancini and James Horner, the famous Amapola by José Lacalle, music from The Wizard of Oz by Harold Arlen, and the remarkable Waltz by Erich Wolfgang Korngold, composed when the musician was still very young.
A particularly original highlight of the evening is dedicated to Leroy Anderson, featuring works such as The Syncopated Clock, Sleigh Ride, and above all The Typewriter, in which a typewriter becomes the star performer, transformed into a true musical instrument.
A concert rich in atmosphere and imagination, blending classical music, jazz, musical theatre, and cinema in an exciting journey through beloved melodies and surprising musical creativity.
5 August – WindQuintet
Women in Wind: From Classicism to Opera
The second concert will take place on Tuesday, 5 August at 9:15 pm at the Church of Santa Marta in Varenna.
The evening will feature the WindQuintet, composed of five accomplished young musicians: Michela Podera (flute), Mariapia Begna (oboe), Lucrezia Orlando (clarinet), Debora Maffeis (horn), and Monica Guerini (bassoon).
The ensemble will guide audiences through the rich repertoire for wind quintet, a chamber music formation renowned for its extraordinary variety of tone colours, capable of evoking the expressive palette of a full orchestra.
The programme spans different periods and styles, from the Classical elegance of Joseph Haydn to Johannes Brahms’ refined Variations on a Theme by Haydn, and Alexander Zemlinsky’s Humoreske. The evening is completed by celebrated operatic excerpts, including the Overture from Vincenzo Bellini’s Norma, the Sinfonia from Gioachino Rossini’s La cambiale di matrimonio, the moving Intermezzo from Pietro Mascagni’s Cavalleria Rusticana, and the brilliant Carmen Suite by Georges Bizet.
This concert showcases the versatility of the wind quintet and its remarkable ability to convey the expressive richness of the symphonic, operatic, and chamber music repertoire through the artistry of five outstanding performers.
Two evenings, each with its own distinctive atmosphere and musical language, united by the excellence of their performers and the Festival’s commitment to offering audiences fresh, engaging, and inspiring musical experiences.
