A music festival under the stars, Pianofortissimo&Talents starts on the 7th of June and continues until the 6th of July in historical and culturally significant venues in the city. So we go from the 13th-century Cloister of Santo Stefano to the Church of San Michele in Bosco for the Talenti concerts, and from Cortile dell’Archiginnasio to the Farnese Chapel of Palazzo d’Accursio for the Pianofortissimo performances. There will also be a glimpse of the metropolitan landscape with an out-of-town trip to the most authentic and evocative corners of the Reno Valley in Marzabotto, the plateau on which the ancient Kainua, now the “Pompeo Aria” National Etruscan Museum, was built over two thousand years ago. The event promoted by Bologna Festival and Inedita per la Cultura, as part of Bologna Estate, hosts the latest generation of pianists, classical instrumentalists and chamber musicians, often winners of international competitions such as clarinettist Kevin Spagnolo, cellist Luca Giovannini, the Quartetto Eos, pianist Davide Ranaldi or the Soloists of the baroque ensemble Camerata Accademica. This is the new generation of artists, talents who are cultivating their performing careers with determination and extraordinary competence.

TALENTS

Bologna Festival’s ‘open air’ summer programme, explains Maddalena da Lisca, superintendent and artistic director of the festival, sees the new generation of artists, this year all Italians, take the field in the Talents programme, ready to begin their performing careers with the enthusiasm and determination that youth gives them. They have behind them hours and hours of study, endless travelling and moving in pursuit of their important masters – international stars who are sparingly granted only to a few pupils of unquestionable worth. They showed tenacity and determination to overcome the competitive tension of international competitions, where their careers were at stake. They savoured the taste of their victories and the joy of success at their debut concerts. Above all, behind all this, there are innate talents, without which the learning they have acquired over so many years would be meaningless. The team of the 13 Talents to whom Bologna Festival entrusts its chamber music performances is made up of such young musicians, in the belief that our youngsters can display extraordinary competence and the freshness of interpretations.

PIANOFORTISSIMO

The energy that only music in its multiple expressions and highest performances can release and transmit, vibrates in the tenth edition of pianofortissimo.

With the opening concert on the 7th June, in the Farnese Chapel at Palazzo d’Accursio, we witness a daring transgression and even the (momentary?) ‘abjuration’ of the harpsichord in favour of the piano. If this is done by Matteo Messori, one of Europe’s best-known and established organists and harpsichordists, the event becomes special. As special as the monumental 1867 Erard grand piano played by Messori, an instrument built for the Universal Exhibition in Paris, sparkling with gilded decorations and precious woods. However, it is in the Cortile dell’Archiginnasio – explains Flavia Ciacci Arone di Bertolino, President of Inedita per la Cultura – that, as usual, the exclusive debut of ‘young lions of the keyboard’ is celebrated. This year’s Rising Stars are Ruben Xhaferi and Giorgi Gigashvili, brilliant talents in technical and interpretative skills.

Set in the metropolitan landscape, the Festival lands on the 11th June, also in the Etruscan park of the “Pompeo Aria” museum in Marzabotto, for a concert between soul and blues with Sarah Jane Morris in trio, a sensational voice that continues to amaze. Closing in pink with the two recitals on the 4th and 6th of July, entrusted to the multifaceted creativity of Frida Bollani Magoni (voice and piano) and the poetic sophistication of Olivia Belli (piano & electronics), two stars who know how to galvanise audiences halfway around the world. The numbers speak for themselves with millions of followers and streaming.