For your weekend enjoyment.
Here are some short video highlights produced by Stresa Festival of some of this recently closed season's 25 performances. The season, which ran from July 19 through September 7, was divided into three segments. The weekend of July 19 through July 21, called Midsummer Jazz Concerts, comprised five jazz performances. Musical Meditations (Meditazioni in musica) was the segment from July 25 through July 28. And Between Heaven and Earth (Tra terra e cielo) featured 16 performances between August 24 and the September 7 closing. If you've enjoyed any of these performances, reminisce. If you haven't, then you can get a glimpse of what you've been missing and plan for next year.
Below: Midsummer Jazz Concerts 2013; Friday, July 19, 2013; Lungolago la Palazzola, Stresa
Rava on the Dancefloor; Tribute to Michael Jackson
The next day, same location:
Saturday, July 20, 2013; Lungolago la Palazzola, Stresa
Uri Caine on pianoforte:
( Continued ... )
Below: Meditazioni in Musica Series; Eremo di Santa Caterina del Sasso, Friday, July 26, 2013
Julian Steckel, violincello, J.S. Bach, Suite for violincello solo:
This is a highlight of each festival. Each year a different soloist is chosen to play the Suite. Tickets include the private boat round trip, and the hermitage is evocatively lit with dozens of candles .. read a bit about when I went, here.
The festival is diverse and global. Although some constants, such as the above Bach solo, are featured each year, there are also always new guests, always of world-renowned stature. Likewise, while some venues are constant, new ones are always added as well.
Below: Verbania, Chiesa Madonna di Campagna; Sunday, July 28, 2013
Voci Angeliche; Tolzer Knabenchor; directed by Gerhard Schmidt-Gaden
J.S. Bach, Mottetti Tedeschi:
The following two videos are from the third segment, Tra terra e cielo (Between Heaven and Earth).
Another annual highlight, in the Salone degli arazzi (Hall of Tapestries); Palazzo Borromeo, Isola Bella; Tuesday, September 3, 2013
Sol Gabetta, violincello, and Sergio Ciomei, pianoforte:
And this year's closing performance:
Saturday, September 7, 2013; Palazzo dei Congressi, Stresa
Czech Philharmonic; Jin Belohlavek, director:
Stresa Festival has 14 such videos from this year on their official website; you can watch them all in the video gallery. And while next year's schedule won't be posted for some months, if you want to plan to be here during some performances, you can know that the dates remain relatively constant. Bookmark the homepage, or, hey, they even have a mobile app now!