Summer 2021: classical music, opera, theatre

Dates, festivals and events not to be missed in Florence and Tuscany

The Tuscan sky shines on the long-awaited summer of 2021. Concerts, shows and festivals of the most classical repertoire and prose theatre are back in the open air. Here are the dates not to be missed in Florence and Tuscany.

JUNE
Florence

Between June and July, the 83rd Maggio Musicale Fiorentino Festival, one of the most important opera festivals in Europe, continues. At the Teatro del Maggio, from 4 to 19 June, Verdi's La forza del destino conducted by Zubin Mehta will be on stage.

From 21 to 25 June, Virgilio Sieni's Centro Nazionale danza brings Agorà Paradiso / Ballo 1321 to Florence on the occasion of the celebrations for the 700th anniversary of Dante's death: every day an event-lesson open to the public based on some passages from Dante's Paradiso, chosen in collaboration with the poet Elisa Biagini.
From 21 to 23 June, as part of Secret Florence, at 8.30 pm on the Terrace of Villa Strozzi, three concerts of contemporary and electronic music organised by Tempo Reale.

tempo reale festival 2021

The 74th edition of the Estate Fiesolana brings to the Roman Amphitheatre of Fiesole on Wednesday 23 June The Legend of Morricone with the Ensemble Symphony Orchestra conducted by Giacomo Loprieno and the Tango of Bueno Aires on Saturday 10 July. But there is also prose theatre - with Tullio Solenghi 24/06, Valeria Solarino 25/06, Massimo Popolizio 12/07, Neri Marcorè 14/07, Michela Murgia 21/07, Dario Ballantini 2/08 - and jazz with SImone Graziano 27/06.

Barberino di Mugello, Florence

Rebirth begins with beauty 2.0, from 11 June to 25 September, seals the second edition of the rich summer season in the territories of Mugello. Prose, music, circus, theatre with great protagonists of the Italian scene for this festival spread in eight different locations in the territory of Barberino di Mugello, among its natural and artistic beauties. The first event is by Catalyst and director Riccardo Rombi, with the debut of a new production, an original version of Molière's classic Il Malato immaginario (The Imaginary Sick), which will be staged at the Teatro Corsini from 11 to 15 June. On Sunday 20th June, at 7.00 pm, Riccardo Tesi and Maurizio Geri in concert Sopra i tetti di Firenze will pay tribute to Caterina Bueno. On Thursday 1 July, in a national preview, Piergiorgio Odifreddi and Marta Dalla Via will stage on the shores of Lake Bilancino, in the Andolaccio Area: Wonders in Alice's Land, a rewrite made where theatre and mathematics become a game to discover that numerical and linguistic structures are the soul of Carroll's work. A major international event is expected on Wednesday 14 July in Piazza Cavour with Le Divan of Circus Toamême, a historic performing arts school from Freiburg.

Circo Toameme

On Friday 16 July, the Andolaccio Area will host Alessandro Benvenuti in the monologue Panico ma rosa (Panic but pink), the lockdown and compulsory isolation of an actor deprived of his stage, told with sincerity and humour. Thursday 5 August Carta bianca with Moni Ovadia, a monologue inspired by his vast theatrical production. Another event of the festival, on Thursday 12th August at 9.00 p.m. at the Castello di Barberino, is Re-Edith, a singular tribute to Edith Piaf by Anna Granata.

Prato

The Mesotonica association presents four jewel-concerts as part of the Prato Antiqua 2021 exhibition: on 14 June at 9 p.m., in the cloister of San Domenico, percussionist Alfio Antico will perform an evening entitled 'La voce del tamburo' (The voice of the drum); on 20 June at 8.30 p.m. and 10 p.m., in the courtyard of Palazzo Datini, Teodoro Baù, viola da gamba, will give a double performance of 'Gesti di danza, J.S. Bach Partite'; on 10 July, at 9 p.m., in the cloister of San Francesco, Capriccio Armonico (Renaissance dance troupe) and Anonima Frottolisti (Renaissance music ensemble) with reciting voice Massimo Salle. 00, Chiostro di San Francesco, Capriccio Armonico (renaissance dance troupe) and Anonima Frottolisti (renaissance music ensemble) with the reciting voice of Massimo Sallei perform in an evening entitled 'A proposito di Dante: suoni, immagini, colori del divino poeta'; on July 16, at 21.00, Chiostro di San Francesco, the ensemble L'arte dell'arco with Marina De Lisio and Federico Guglielmo (baroque violin and direction) in 'Venezia inconsueta'. All concerts are free admission by booking associazionemesotonica@gmail.com

ALfio Antico

Castiglioncello, Livorno

From 23 June to 4 July, Inequilibrio 2021, the festival of the new scene, returns with an edition spread from Rosignano Marittimo to Castiglioncello and will host 31 companies with 12 national premieres, including dance, music, theatre and digital performance. Among the dates on the calendar at the Amphitheatre of Castello Paquini: on 28 June, at 9.30 pm, Giuseppe Cederna will stage La cortesia dei non vendenti; on 29 June, Tindaro Granata with the Proxima Res company, at 10 pm, will stage Antropolecio. On June 29th, Tindaro Granata with the Proxima Res company, at 10 pm, will perform Antropolaroid decennale; on June 30th, Sacchi di Sabbia with Massimiliano Civica will stage Aeschylus' I sette contro Tebe; on July 2nd, at 10 pm, Caso W. directed by Claudio Morganti, a production of Teatro Metastasio di Prato.

Tindaro Granata antropolaroid

Pontedera and Peccioli, Pisa

FestiValdera in Pontedera is unique on the Italian scene: it is a production and drama festival with a serial aspect. All the shows on the programme are original productions by the Fondazione Teatro della Toscana under the artistic direction and direction of Marco D'Amore and with the participation of famous and talented actors and actresses. This year, at Teatro Era in Pontedera Luca Zingaretti with Angelo on 27 June, Fabrizio Gifuni with Italo on 30 June; at 11Lune in Peccioli, in the spaces of the Amphitheatre Fonte Mazzola, Vittoria Puccini with Greta on 5 July, Marco D'Amore with Salvo on 8 July and Toni Servillo with Candido on 12 July at the Amphitheatre of the Triangolo Verde in Legoli.

Toni Servillo ph. Monica Silva

JULY
Florence

As part of the Festival del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, at the Teatro della Pergola, from 28 June to 8 July, the appointment is with baroque opera: Monteverdi's Il Ritorno d'Ulisse in Patria directed by Ottavio Dantone and conducted by Robert Carsen.

On 13 July at the Roman Amphitheatre in Fiesole, a unique and special event: a concert performed live by Uto Ughi, Italian excellence in the violin.
On 14 July at Villa Bardini, Elio Germano brings to Florence a rewriting for virtual reality of Così è (se vi pare) by Pirandello. The show entitled Così è (o mi pare) will be repeated on 5 August at the Manifattura Tabacchi and is also scheduled for the autumn season of the Teatro della Toscana, 2021-2022.

The curtain in Piazza della Santissima Annunziata, that of the Musart Festival, opens on Saturday 17 July with the Roberto Bolle and Friends dance gala: the Étoile returns to Florence with his excellent guests. On Wednesday 21 July, at 6.45 pm, violinist Federico Mecozzi - who has worked with Ludovico Einaudi for two decades - will inaugurate the sunset concerts of the Musart Festival at the Chiostro di Levante of the University of Florence. In Piazza SS. Annunziata, again on Wednesday 21st July, with Piano Variations on Jesus Christ Superstar Stefano Bollani will reinterpret the famous musical in an instrumental version, adding his own character and extraordinary ability to improvise: in solitude and in absolute freedom. On Thursday 22nd July, on the main stage of the Musart Festival, all the talent of Luka Šulić, world star of the cello and co-founder of 2Cellos, with a special concert between pop, rock and classical music, accompanied by the enfant prodige of the piano Evgeny Genchev.

Roberto Bolle & Friends

Before the Musart Festival live performances, it is possible to visit the gardens, places of worship and monumental buildings adjacent to the square free of charge. The spaces are open on a rotating basis. These include the Istituto degli Innocenti, the Istituto Geografico Militare, the Humanities Library of Florence University, the Church of Santa Maria degli Innocenti, the Church of San Francesco Poverino, the Garden of the Archaeological Museum, the Basilica of Santissima Annunziata and the Florence Academy of Fine Arts.
Again at the Chiostro di Levante, on Sunday 25 July, Vincenzo Vasi's theremin, the oldest electronic instrument with over a century of history, will be playing.

Torre del Lago, Lucca

The 2021 edition of the Puccini Festival, directed this year by Giorgio Battistelli, brings 3 opera titles for 10 performances at the Gran Teatro all'Aperto in Torre del Lago: Tosca 23 July / 6, 13 August which will see the directing debut of Stefana Sandrelli; a new production of Turandot, 24-30 July / 14-20 August, co-produced with the Teatro Goldoni in Livorno, with the signature of a great director like Daniele Abbado; and La Bohème 31 July / 7-21 August in the revival of the show by Ettore Scola entrusted to Marco Scola di Mambro, former assistant to the great director. But the programme goes much further with some very important events such as Caruso Forever, on 2 August, by and with Stefano Massini; the Symphonic Concert conducted by Roberto Abbado on 5 August; Arnold Schoenberg's Pierrot Lunaire in collaboration with the Accademia del Teatro alla Scala on 10 August; the performance Puccini, Puccini che cosa vuoi da me with Toni Servillo and the Puccini Festival Orchestra conducted by Gianna Fratta on 12 August; the screening of the film Luci della ribalta by Charlie Chaplin with live music performed by the Orchestra della Toscana conducted by Helmut Imig on 26 August, the latter at the Cittadella del Carnevale in Viareggio.

Tosca

Marina di Pietrasanta, Lucca

At this year's Festival della Versiliana there are evenings not to be missed. On 12th July, the Orchestra della Toscana performs great film music from Morricone to Williams, Bernstein to Piazzola. On 13 July, Alessandro Benvenuti will stage Panico ma rosa. On 26 July Dove sono le donne? by and with Michela Murgia. On 31 July Arturo tells Brachetti with the participation of Paolo Hendel. On 3 August, co-concert-show with La Radiorchestra and Fabrizio Corucci. On 8 August Ma tu sei felice? with Claudio Bisio and Gigio Alberti. On 9 August, Monica Guerritore takes the stage in Dall'inferno all'infinito. On 14 August, Stefano Massini stages L'alfabeto delle emozioni. On August 21 is the evening of The Secret Love of Ophelia with Chiara Francini.

alessandro benvenuti ph. carlotta benvenuti

Lajatico, Pisa

This is the concert event that Andrea Bocelli dedicates to his homeland. The date of the 15th edition of the Teatro del Silenzio, in Lajatico, Il Mistero della Bellezza, will be 22 and 24 July.

Andrea Bocelli, Teatro del Silenzio