Schwetzingen Festival
The Schwetzingen Festival (German: Schwetzinger Festspiele, now Schwetzinger SWR Festspiele) is an early summer festival of opera and other classical music presented each year from May to early June in Schwetzingen, Germany.
In 1952 the broadcaster Süddeutscher Rundfunk founded the festival in the Schwetzingen area. It is located in a beautiful 250-year-old palace and park, Schwetzingen Castle, near the famous city of Heidelberg. The main venue is the historic Schlosstheater Schwetzingen. Nowadays, the successor organization is the Südwestrundfunk (SWR) and it organises a large number of international concerts and music theatre events every year.
One of the festival's characteristics is the world premiere of a new opera, as well as at least one rediscovered opera from former centuries, performed on period instruments.
Year | World premieres | Early rarities |
---|---|---|
2000 | Kurz KKarl-Wieland Kurz: gute miene böses spiel | LegrenziGiovanni Legrenzi: La divisione del mondo |
2001 | HidalgoManuel Hidalgo: Bacon 1561–1992 | HaydnJoseph Haydn: L'anima del filosofo |
2002 | SciarrinoSalvatore Sciarrino: Macbeth | BendaGeorg Benda: Il buon marito |
2003 | Zeller FFrederik Zeller: Irma Vep | HolzbauerIgnaz Holzbauer: Il figlio delle selve |
2004 | HolszkyAdriana Hölszky: Der gute Gott von Manhattan | PaisielloGiovanni Paisiello: Il re Teodoro in Venezia |
2005 | Zeller FFrederik Zeller: Zaubern | ScarlattiAlessandro Scarlatti: Telemaco |
2006 | SciarrinoSalvatore Sciarrino: Kälte (Da gelo a gelo) | KrausJoseph Martin Kraus: Proserpina |
2007 | Lang BBernhard Lang: Der Alte vom Berge | LegrenziGiovanni Legrenzi: Il Giustino |
2008 | HolszkyAdriana Hölszky: Hybris/Niobe | SteffaniAgostino Steffani: Niobe, regina di Tebe |
2009 | RihmWolfgang Rihm: Proserpina | HandelGeorge Frideric Handel: Ezio |
2010 | JarrellMichael Jarrell: Le Père | GretryAndré Grétry: Andromaque |
2011 | Haas GGeorg Friedrich Haas: Bluthaus | GluckChristoph Willibald Gluck: Telemaco |
2012 | PoppeEnno Poppe: IQ. Testbatterie[1] | SchweitzerAnton Schweitzer: Rosamunda[2] |
Concerts have featured well-known artists such as Gidon Kremer, Jorge Bolet and Cecilia Bartoli, as well as young artists at the start of their careers. Singers of the caliber of Barbara Hendricks, Fritz Wunderlich and Teresa Berganza have performed at the festival as beginners and have all gone on to major careers.
See also
References
- ↑ Klangforum Wien, calendar entry for 27 April 2012. Retrieved 30 September 2011.
- ↑ Festival details
External links
- Schwetzinger SWR Festspiele website