TRENTINO TO HOST ‘SOUNDS OF THE DOLOMITES’ FESTIVAL: 23 AUGUST – 24 SEPTEMBER 2021

London, United Kingdom, 1st June 2021 - Starting on 23 August, Suoni delle Dolomiti (translated as ‘Sounds of the Dolomites’) will return to the captivating mountains of Trentino, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. For twenty-six years, the festival has been bringing international music to the top of Trentino’s most beautiful peaks, with events that are mindful and respectful of the environment and blend art and connection with nature. Musicians and the general public will hike through trails to reach basins and meadows, clearings, and mountains where, in the early afternoon, instruments will fill the surrounding landscape with music.

Ahead of the main festival, there will be a preview performance on 15 July at Passo Lavazè in green Val di Fiemme, home to woodland used by luthiers to repair their instruments for centuries. There, at the intersection of pastures and fir forests, the scars of 2018’s Storm Vaia are still visible, many Alpine forests having been destroyed by the gale. At the same time, the signs of rebirth and man’s commitment to the forest are also evident. This bond has always distinguished Trentino, a region aware of the need to preserve the delicate Alpine environment. This commitment is also shared by the musicians: I Solisti Aquilani, who have chosen to perform Vivaldi’s ‘Four Seasons’ as a point of reflection on how the relationship between man and the environment has changed over time, what has been definitively lost or broken, and what can be done now.

On Monday, 23 August the full calendar of performances will commence at Malga Canvere in Val di Fiemme with one of the world’s best-known musicians and the greatest still-performing violinist, Gidon Kremer. He will be accompanied by the Kremerata Baltica, who will pay a tribute to Astor Piazzolla on the occasion of his centenary.

The concert on 27 August at Buffaure in Val di Fassa will celebrate Carlos Gardel, the most prominent figure in the history of Tango. The performance will be accompanied by accordionist Lionel Suarez, cellist Vincent Segal, percussionist Minino Garay and trumpeter Arielle Besson as the Gardel Quartet.

25 August will be entirely dedicated to the violin and one of its best interpreters. Pale di San Martino will be the natural stage welcoming the charismatic Antje Weithaas, whose rich repertoire ranges from eighteenth-century to present-day music. In the shadow of Prati Col, she will perform music by Johan Sebastian Bach and Ysaÿe.

This year, the Trentino Festival will pay tribute to great musicians. On 6 September, the tones of Ludwig van Beethoven, 251 years after his birth, will accompany the wait for sunrise from the natural balcony of Col Margherita in Val di Fassa, with an enchanting view of several Dolomite groups. The notes of the Sixth Symphony, called ‘Pastoral’, will ring as a celebration of nature, and be accompanied by a text narration by Sandro Cappelletto bringing to life an unusual and private Beethoven seen through the eyes of his nephew Karl. The Lyskamm Quartet with Sara Marzadori on the violin and Paolo Bonomini on the cello will welcome the first rays of sunshine.

In the splendid scenery of the lakes of Bombasel, the Riot Jazz Brass Band will land on the Dolomites on 3 September from the vibrant and multicultural scene of Manchester. Nine components for three trumpets, three trombones, percussion and sousaphone, led by MC Chunky, promise pure fun and contagious rhythms, energy and enthralling sounds.

The fruitful dialogue between popular and cultured art is at the centre of the 22 September event in Val di Fiemme (at La Porta), where Coro Sasso Rosso - for fifty years the interpreter of the Trentino and Alpine popular repertoire - will meet Virtuosi Italiani, a band of classical musicians who have trod the boards of Italy’s most important theatres. The artists will perform a rich programme hinging upon a homage to Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli, a well-known master and refined pianist who has harmonised numerous pieces for mountain choirs, and that the Val di Sole choir includes in its repertoire.

Finally, the Festival will give room to a handful of young and already established international artists. They are Nicolas Van Kuijk (violin), Sylvain Favre-Bulle (violin), Emmanuel François (viola) and Anthony Kondo (cello), who formed Van Kuijk Quartet in Paris in 2012. They received accolades from the very start, namely, First Prize at the “International Competition for String Quartet” at the Wigmore Hall in London, First Prize and the Audience Award at the “Chamber Music Competition” in Trondheim in Norway and, ranking first at the “Fnapec-Musiques d’Ensembles” competition, in France. With a program dedicated to Edvard Grieg and Felix Mendelssohn, they will perform on 15 September in the splendid setting of Roda de Vael in Val di Fassa.

For further information: https://www.visittrentino.info/en/isuonidelledolomiti