Festwochen der Alten Musik

Ambras Castle, one of the festival's venues

The Innsbrucker Festwochen der Alten Musik (Innsbruck Festival of Early Music) is a festival of historically informed performances of music from the late Renaissance, Baroque and early Classical periods which takes place annually in Innsbruck, Austria. It was founded in 1976.[1]

History

The festival had its roots in 1963 when the Innsbruck musician Otto Ulf (1907–1993) organized a concert at the Ambras Castle to celebrate the 600th anniversary of Margaret, Countess of Tyrol's bequest of Tyrol to the Dukes of Austria. The Ambras Castle concerts continued over the years and in 1972, he initiated an International Summer Academy in the city. The festival itself was established in 1976 with Ulf as its artistic director. The Belgian conductor and early music specialist René Jacobs had organized the festival's opera programme from 1991, and was artistic director of the entire festival from 1997 to 2009. In 2010, Alessandro De Marchi succeeded Jacobs as artistic director.[2]

The festival takes place in historic venues in Innsbruck, including the Ambras Castle, every August and has played a pioneering role in the revival of Baroque opera.[3] Operas which have been performed at the festival (many of them in their first performance in modern times) include Cesti's L'Orontea and L'Argia; Monteverdi's L'Orfeo, Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria, and L'incoronazione di Poppea; Cavalli's Giasone and Serse, Conti's Don Chisciotte in Sierra Morena; Sartorio's Giulio Cesare in Egitto; Handel's Flavio and Rinaldo; Telemann's Orpheus; Hasse's Solimano; Haydn's Il mondo della luna; Mozart's La finta semplice and Don Giovanni; and Gassmann's L'opera seria.

Among the conductors who have appeared at the festival are Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Jordi Savall, Sigiswald Kuijken, John Eliot Gardiner and Alan Curtis.

References

  1. ↑ Michael Gehler Tirol: "Land im Gebirge" : zwischen Tradition und Moderne 1999 p273 "1976 fand erstmals eine Woche der alten Musik in Innsbruck statt und ein Jahr später wagte man, ihr den Titel »Festwoche der alten Musik« zu geben."
  2. ↑ Innsbrucker Festwochen der Alten Musik. "Geschichte" (History). Retrieved 1 July 2013 (German).
  3. ↑ Loomis, George (8 August 2006). "René Jacobs: Baroque roots and a 'sense of fantasy'". New York Times. Retrieved 1 July 2013.

External links