Do Je-hae edits news stories as part of the AI team.
Summer festival guide
Great Mountains International Festival & School, Korea’s top summer music event, takes place in the lavish Alpensia resort in Gangwon Province.
By Do Je-hae
By Do Je-hae
Every summer, a dazzling array of classical music festivals brings together top musicians in some of the most scenic settings at home and abroad.
A major theme in classical music this year is the bi-centennial of the birth of opera composers Wagner and Verdi. Many festivals are reflecting this in the programming.
Some offer online streamig service and TV broadcasts, enabling audiences to enjoy world-class concerts and operas without traveling.
An audience listens to a violin recital at the Moab Music Festival, which takes place in the red rock venues around Moab, Utah. / Courtesy of Moab Music Festival
Festivals offer world-class concerts, scenery
A number of festivals in Europe are celebrating landmark anniversaries, such as the Verbier Festival in Switzerland which is in its 20th year this summer.
They are marking the occasion with special programs, including the return of the master Russian pianist Mikhail Pletnev, who has mainly been a conductor and hasn’t done anything significant on the piano since 2004.
In Korea, the idea of a summer classical music festival was new until the founding of the Great Mountains International Festival & School (GMMFS) in 2003. In the last decade, it has become a foremost classical music event in Korea, bringing together the world’s top musicians and teachers for a series of concerts, recitals and masterclasses.
Here is an introduction to major summer classical music festivals in Korea, Europe and the U.S. Some of them provide live streaming service, so check their websites for further details.
Korea
Great Mountains International Festival & School (GMMFS)
July 14-Aug. 6
PyeongChang, Gangwong Province
Set in the lavish Alpensia resort, the GMMFS, which celebrates its 10th year, will be organized around the theme “Northern Lights.”
The event will feature works by Nordic composers and musicians from Northern Europe, as well as specially commissioned works for the festival and some operatic highlights featuring the National Chorus of Korea and the Festival Orchestra.
The festival has transformed the cultural landscape of the region, with an ultra-modern 640-auditoriam and a tented theater with seating capacity of 1,300.
With the aspiration of becoming Korea’s “Aspen Music Festival,” the festival places a lot of importance on teaching as well.
The music directors of the festival are cellist Chung Myung-wha and violinist Chung Kyung-wha since 2010. Kang Hyo, Juilliard and Yale professor of violin, is the founding music director.
Europe
Verbier Festival
July 19-Aug. 4
Verbier, Switzerland
The comeback of Russian piano virtuoso Mikhail Pletnev at the Verbier Festival is one of the biggest news stories in classical music this year. / Korea Time
This year’s Verbier Festival — an annual meeting of music superstars 1,500 meters up in the Swiss mountains — is the 20th of its series.
The 20th anniversary concert, featuring top instrumentalists, takes place on July 28. Artists at the concert will include the Russian virtuoso pianists Evgeny Kissin and Denis Matsuev, violinist Yuri Bashmet, cellist Mischa Maisky, among others.
This festival is relatively young compared to some of the classical music festivals in Europe, but every year it manages to gather the hottest stars in the field.
It is also very active with online streaming services. DVDs of previous festivals are readily available at on and offline stores.
The highlight of the Verbier this year is the comeback of Russian piano virtuoso Mikhail Pletnev, who returns to his instrument after years of focusing on conducting as the founding music director of the Russian National Orchestra.
Fans have eagerly anticipated his return to piano, as Pletnev had been one of the world’s most original interpreters of piano music in the 1980s and 1990s.
He will perform on July 28 at the 20th anniversary concert, and also on Aug. 8 where he will play “Suite for Piano and Orchestra” by jazz composer Alexander Tsfasman under Kent Nagano.
The Verbier Festival first came to the attention of the local classical music fans when former child prodigy cellist Chang Han-na was invited to perform there in the mid 1990s.
After leaving the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra in 2002, Claudio Abbado has established the Lucerne Festival as one of Europe’s most important classical music events. / Courtesy of Lucerne Festival
Salzburg Festival
July 19-Sept. 1
Salzburg, Austria
hwww.salzburgerfestspiele.at
Held in the birthplace of Mozart, this is one of the world’s most comprehensive festivals of classical music and drama since its establishment in 1920.
The event provides open-air concerts, with over 2,000 people enjoying the “Free Festival” on Kapitelplatz each day. Performances and opera highlights from the past as well as productions and live broadcasts of the current festival season are presented with free admission.
The festival offers an active website with podcasts and videos of performances.
Progetto Martha Argerich
June 9-July 3
Lugano, Switzerland
The Argentine piano virtuoso Martha Argerich founded this festival 12 years ago, gathering her close friends and protegees for a series of recitals and chamber music concerts.
Because of the formidable star power of Argerich, the festival has become one of the most important summer music events in Europe.
Korean pianist Lim Dong-hyek has been a familiar face in the festival. Argerich has supported the young pianist since the beginning of his career and helped him to release his first EMI album under the “Argerich Presents” series.
Argerich has used the festival to present new names to the audience.
The 200th anniversary of the birth of Verdi and Wagner will be celebrated with the performance of various instrumental transcriptions of their operas.
Live streaming from Auditoriam RSI will be available on June 11, 13 17, 23, 25 and July 1.
The Salaburg Festival’s open-air concerts at the Kapitelplatz square draws more than 2,000 people each day of the three-month long event. Overlooking the square is the Hohensalzburg Castle, a Salzburg landmark and one of the oldest medieval castles in Europe. / Courtesy of Salzburg Festival
Lucerne Festival
Aug.15-Sept.15
Lucerne, Switzerland
“Revolution!” is the theme of the Lucerne Festival, which is closely associated with maestro Claudio Abbado.
The theme pays homage to Igor Stravinsky’s ballet “Le Sacre du Printemps” which was premiered in May 1913 in Paris, sending shock waves through the classical music world at the time.
The festival takes the centenary of the scandalous work as an occasion to devote itself to music associated with upheaval and times of change.
Every year since 2003, the festival has opened with a concert of the Lucerne Festival Orchestra, an elite ensemble conducted by Abbado and composed of internationally renowned soloists, chamber musicians and professors personally chosen by the conductor. This includes Albrecht Mayer, the principal oboist of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra (BPO) where Abbado served as music director from 1989 until 2002.
Abbado has scaled the absolute heights of his profession, becoming the head of Milan’s La Scala, the Vienna State Opera and the BPO before making the Lucerne Festival his priority.
At Lucerne, he has focused on Mahler and each performance of his symphonies has been widely-acclaimed.
Verbier has featured many young stars, including Chinese pianist Yuja Wang.
The pianist-in-residence of the Lucerne Festival this year is Mitsuko Uchida, one of the most sought-after pianists of our time for her expertise in Austro-German repertory. Along with Beethoven’s intimately poetic Fourth Piano Concerto, she will devote a recital to works by composers from Bach to Berg.
U.S.
Completed in 1998, the Lucerne Culture and Congress Centre serves as home to the Lucerne Festival Orchestra founded by Italian conductor Claudio Abbado. Their Mahler and Bruckner series at the festival are available on CDs and DVDs. / Courtesy of Lucerne Festival
Mostly Mozart Festival
July 27-Aug. 24
Lincoln Center, New York City
This festival presents the music of Mozart and other composers that are closely associated with him. The line of influence from Mozart to Beethoven is the focus of nine concerts led by music director Louis Langree, Gianandrea Noseda, Andrew Manze and others. Czech conductor Ivan Fischer will lead soloists and the Budapest Festival Orchestra in a staged concert performance of Mozart’s “The Marriage of Figaro.”
Tanglewood Festival
June 23-Sept. 1
Tanglewood, Mass.
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The Boston Symphony is the resident ensemble at this festival. This summer will be the first time its music director designate Andris Nelsons will appear with the orchestra at Tanglewood.
The 37-year-old Latvian will lead Verdi’s Requiem, and the Dutch conductor Bernard Haitink will wrap up the festival with Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. Also taking place is the U.S. premiere of George Benjamin’s opera “Written on Skin” and celebrations of Wagner.
Moab Music Festival
Aug 29-Sept. 9
Moab, Utah
moabmusicfest.org
This festival is uniquely set in the red rock venues around Moad, Utah. The award-winning festival offers a diverse program with chamber music, jazz and traditional music from around the world. Concertgoers can enjoy scenic commutes to events, including a boat ride to the Colorado River Grotto.