Maggio Musicale Fiorentino

The Maggio Musicale Fiorentino is an opera festival in the months of May and June, takes place every year in Florence.

History

The Maggio Musicale Fiorentino was founded in April 1933 by conductor Vittorio Gui with the original aim to perform contemporary and forgotten operas. It is the oldest music festival in Italy. Many famous singers and conductors such as Bruno Walter, Wilhelm Furtwängler, Herbert von Karajan and Zubin Mehta have occurred here. Among the composers who have shown their works at the Maggio Musicale even belong Pietro Mascagni, Richard Strauss, Paul Hindemith, Béla Bartók and Igor Stravinsky. The artistic director is currently Paolo Arca, chief conductor Zubin Mehta.

Venues

The performances will take place at the Teatro Comunale di Firenze, rather than in the smaller Teatro Piccolo Teatro della Pergola and the historical.