The opening of the Staatskapelle Dresden’s 2025/26 season and a tournée with stops in Rheingau, Milan, Bucharest, Linz and Prague are the upcoming engagements of conductor Daniele Gatti. On Sunday, August 31 (with repeat performances on September 1 and 2), he opens his second season as Chief Conductor of the Staatskapelle — his tenure began in August 2024 — with a concert at the Semperoper in Dresden.
At just 32 years old – only two years above the minimum age required to be eligible – the Italian conductor Michele Spotti, has been appointed by the French Ministry of Culture as “Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres”, one of the highest honors awarded to “individuals who have distinguished themselves through their artistic or literary creations or for the contribution they have made to the influence of the arts and letters in France and worldwide.”
After the intense Vienna residency in February 2025 – which involved schools, a retirement home, a soup kitchen, and cultural institutions, culminating in two concerts at the Konzerthaus – pianist Filippo Gorini makes his African debut, bringing his project Sonata for 7 Cities to Cape Town and Stellenbosch from August 21 to September 26.
Back for its 14th edition, the “Guido Cantelli” International Conducting Award will take place from 1 to 4 October 2026, a significant year marking seventy years since the untimely death of the extraordinary Italian conductor to whom the competition is dedicated.
The charm of the folk melodies that Johannes Brahms collected under the title of Hungarian Dances is the protagonist of a new album released by BR-KLASSIK. The label, almost thirty years after the studio recording with the Münchner Rundfunkorchester in 1996, is publishing the orchestral version of Brahms’ 21 Hungarian Dances conducted by Roberto Abbado, then Principal Conductor of the German ensemble.
It’s not Hamlet, and it’s not Shakespeare. It’s Ambleto — the very first opera in music history to tell the story of the Danish prince — brought to Vienna with an unexpected ending that celebrates the central role of female figures. This symbolic choice lies at the heart of the new production of Ambleto, the Baroque masterpiece by Francesco Gasparini, on stage at the MusikTheater an der Wien from May 6 to 17, 2025.
«I wanted to emphasize the surreal aspect of Betrothal in a Monastery. It’s a comic opera that tells of the protagonist’s journey into a fantasy world; and we try to make it all the more effective by changing the spatial dimensions, playing with transforming costumes and identities, and by creating visions that bring the story to an imaginative level». This is how Damiano Michieletto describes his new production of Sergej Prokofiev’s Betrothal in a Monastery, running at the MusikTheater an der Wien, in the capital of Austria, from Wednesday 26 March until 9 April.
«The sense of belonging is a fire that burns inside. Given my origins, I can’t ignore the moral obligation of rediscovering the Neapolitan eighteenth century repertoire». With these words, Italian soprano Rosa Feola, who was born in Caserta, near Naples, and has always been keen on promoting her territory’s musical heritage, describes the artistic journey that she made with Antonio Florio and the Cappella Neapolitana and that have brought to her new album “Son Regina e Sono Amante”, released by Pentatone today, Friday 14 March, and available on all major streaming and download platforms (https://lnk.to/SonReginaeSonoAmante) and music stores.
Two new opera productions, a world premiere, concerts, discussions, and open lessons, totaling over 30 scheduled events: the city that gave birth to Claudio Monteverdi honors the father of opera by hosting great international stars, including Cecilia Bartoli, Davide Livermore, Jordi Savall, Christophe Rousset, Ottavio Dantone, The Tallis Scholars, and Maayan Licht.
Argentinian of Italian origins, he studied Belcanto in Buenos Aires and is today considered one of the greatest countertenors worldwide: Franco Fagioli, awarded the Premio “Abbiati” in 2011, tells of his unusual musical journey by celebrating the renowned last castrato in his album “The last castrato. Arias for Velluti”, to be released on Friday 28th of February 2025 by Château de Versailles Spectacles, recorded with the Chorus and Orchestra of the Opéra Royal conducted by Stefan Plewniak.
