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The renowned International Singing Competition for Baroque Opera "Pietro Antonio Cesti" concluded with the finale on August 30, 2024. Countertenor Maximiliano Danta from Uruguay impressed the jury with a remarkable performance and emerged as the winner of the competition. The second place was awarded to soprano Jiayu Jin from China, who also received high praise for her interpretation. Mezzo-soprano Brenda Poupard from France claimed third place. Countertenor Pelka Vojtěch received the Audience Award. The Young Talent Award went to mezzo-soprano Ekaterina Chayka-Rubinstein from Germany.

In our section «WeekendQuotes,» we present selected quotes from key figures involved in the Innsbruck Festival of Early Music.

From 01 September 2023, the renowned Italian harpsichordist and conductor Ottavio Dantone will act as Musical Director for the Innsbruck Festival of Early Music 2024 to 2028, and the current Operations Director Mag. Eva-Maria Sens will take over as Artistic Director. The current Managing Director Dr. Markus Lutz will serve as Excecutive Commercial Director.
 

On Sunday evening, the 14th International Singing Competition for Baroque Opera «Pietro Antonio Cesti» of the Innsbruck Festival of Early Music came to a close at the House of Music in Innsbruck. In a high-quality final concert, mezzo-soprano Mathilde Ortscheidt from France emerged victorious over her fellow competitors. The second place was secured by British soprano Charlotte Bowden, and third place was claimed by baritone Giacomo Nanni from Italy. The Audience Prize was won by French bass-baritone Alexandre Baldo, and the Young Talent Award was awarded to soprano Neima Fischer from Germany.

The musicologist Marcus Zagorski writes about various aspects of listening to music in the mountains and nature.

The 47^th  Innsbruck Festival of Early Music will take place from 11 July to 29 August 2023 with the theme “Paths”. After 14 years, it will be the last festival season by artistic director Alessandro De Marchi.

The programme of the Innsbruck Festival of Early Music 2023 was presented today. The Innsbruck Festival will take place from 11 July to 29 August with 48 events at more than 14 venues in and around the Tyrolean capital.

No fewer than three staged productions by the Italian master Antonio Vivaldi will be brought to the stage. “Olimpiade”, “Juditha triumphans” and, as a Barockoper:Jung “La fida ninfa”.
Alessandro De Marchi himself will conduct both “Olimpiade” and “Juditha triumphans” He announces:
“After 14 years of directing the Innsbruck Festival of Early Music, a wonderful journey has come full circle for me. In 2010, in my first year as artistic director, Pergolesi’s “Olimpiade” was on the programme. This year it will be Antonio Vivaldi’s “Olimpiade” with which we will open the festival on 4 August. Vivaldi and his birthplace Venice run through the programme like a thread.”
In “Olimpiade”, the Tyrolean State Theatre (“Tiroler Landestheater”) will become the venue of Olympic Games, while rivals Bejun Mehta and Raffaele Pe will compete in musical-sporting contests. Soprano Bruno de Sà, alto Margherita Maria Sala and others will also take part in the competition.
Sophie Rennert slips into the title role of the dreaded heroine in “Juditha triumphans”. She will be joined on stage by soprano Arianna Vendittelli and mezzo-soprano Emilie Renard, among others. The Baroque Opera:Jung production of “La fida ninfa” offers a supposedly dreamlike shepherd’s idyll. Finalists of the Cesti Competition 2022 seek their love under the musical direction of Chiara Cattani.

“The Innsbruck Festival of Early Music is one of the absolute highlights of the Tyrolean Summer of Culture and, under the motto “Paths”, invites you to immerse yourself in the diversity of early music and discover exciting new facets. The programme also includes some free concerts and thus opens up easy access to high-quality cultural offerings,” says Governor and Cultural Affairs Officer Anton Mattle.
In addition to the numerous free events, such as the lunch concerts, Musica montana and the Concerte mobile, renowned artists such as Rinaldo Alessandrini with Concerto Italiano, Lina Tur Bonet and Musica Alchemica as well as Christophe Rousset can be heard in glamorous concerts in the most beautiful historic venues Innsbruck has to offer. Baroque splendour and joie de vivre will be exuded by the flute virtuoso Giovanni Antonini and Il Giardino Armonico in the Spanish Hall of the Ambras Castle, and the highly acclaimed violinist Julien Chauvin and his ensemble Le Concert de la Loge will perform works by Vivaldi in the sonorous Giant Hall of the Innsbruck Hofburg (“Imperial Palace”). In addition, world-renowned singers such as the sopranos Giulia Semenzato and Francesca Aspromonte as well as mezzo-soprano Marianne Beate Kielland and many more will perform at the Innsbruck Festival.

Innsbruck’s Mayor Georg Willi emphasises: “The Festival of Early Music has shaped Innsbruck for decades. They attract an international audience and are at the same time a fixed point in the calendar of Innsbruck citizens interested in culture. This year’s theme is ‘Paths’ – a fitting topic also because artistic director Alessandro De Marchi has been the Festival’s road builder for the past 14 years. He has shaped and constantly developed the festivals – not least through the Cesti competition for young singers, which he launched in 2010. His merits are manifold; the traces he leaves behind will remain visible for a long time. On behalf of the city, may I thank Alessandro De Marchi from the bottom of my heart and wish him, all participants and the audience, a wonderful time at the Festival.”
Alessandro De Marchi will also bring this year to a brilliant close. After 14 successful and exciting years, he will bid farewell to the Innsbruck Festival Orchestra with a special concert: An evening in concerti for viola d’amore by Antonio Vivaldi, performed by none other than Antoine Tamestit.

Managing Director Dr. Markus Lutz and Operations Director Eva-Maria Sens are awaiting July and August with anticipation. “We are looking forward to this unique and glamorous summer festival with Alessandro De Marchi and Vivaldi. We invite you to revel in music with us through this year’s Festival, on the many paths ahead, discovering the hidden and the new.”

Tickets for the 47^th Innsbruck Festival will be available from Wednesday, 22 March 2023 at all known advance booking offices.

The Innsbruck Festival of Early Music is one of the most renowned festivals of Baroque music in Europe. It has been a magnet for visitors from all over the world since 1976. Next year, the Innsbruck Festival will host over 50 different events from the 12th of July to the 28th of August 2022, showcasing the leitmotif of «encounters».

In the final concert of the 12th International Singing Competition for Baroque Opera Pietro Antonio Cesti at the Haus der Musik Innsbruck on 29 August 2021, Shira Patchornik from Israel prevailed against strong competition.

It is with great pleasure that the Innsbruck Early Music Festival announces that due to the planned further opening steps of the federal government, seating capacities will be increased.

Margherita Maria Sala is 27 years old and has been singing all her life. The fact that she won the Cesti Competition in 2020 is one of the highlights of her life. In an online interview with the Innsbruck Festival of Early Music, she tells how she prepared for it, what happened to her and how her life changed afterwards.

It is with great pleasure that the Innsbruck Festival of Early Music announces that a large part of the originally planned programme 2020 will take place.

The commemorative year of Emperor Maximilian I, the 350th anniversary of Innsbruck court musician Pietro Antonio Cesti’s death and the tenth instalment of the Cesti Competition are the focal points of the 43rd Innsbruck Festival of Early Music. Shining lights from days past and present will radiate with a fresh sparkle in the summer of 2019. The rediscovery of the baroque opera “Merope” by Riccardo Broschi is eagerly anticipated. The Innsbruck audience can look forward to stars of the early music scene – from Bejun Mehta to Julia Lezhneva, from the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin to the La Folia baroque orchestra. 

Outlook to 2019: three extraordinary rarities will be shown at the Innsbruck Festival of Early Music 2019

The young mezzo-soprano Emily D'Angelo won the first prize and the audience award in the Cesti Singing Competition in Innsbruck. Second place went to Eléonore Pancrazi from France followed by Giulia Bolcato from Italy.

Join us in an open dialog between past and present. Let's go in search of musical traces together and risk thinking outside the box.