In its 47th edition and last year under the directorship of Alessandro De Marchi, the Innsbruck Festival of Early Music relies heavily on operas and concertos by the Italian composer Antonio Vivaldi. His operas “Olimpiade” and “Juditha triumphans” are the focus, although “a wide network of paths is stretched around Vivaldi and his time” around them, according to those responsible for the festival on Tuesday at a press conference in Innsbruck.
Under no circumstances do they want to make concessions to a possible baroque mass taste in this season from July 11 to August 29, which is under the motto “Paths”, according to those responsible at the program presentation. “In my opinion, his operas in particular are not yet sufficiently present in the world of early music,” said De Marchi. He wanted to “take Vivaldi and his operas seriously” and bring them “not just in concert, but scenically” to the stage in Innsbruck. In any case, he sees the Vivaldi focus in the 2023 season in the spirit of his previous fourteen-year work, during which opera rarities were also preferably dug up.
In addition, one will certainly not limit oneself to “The Four Seasons”, said company director Eva-Maria Sens, who will act as artistic director from the coming season. “We primarily ask ourselves how Vivaldi is interpreted today,” she explained. According to Sens, Vivaldi and his time also wanted to put “music-making women” in the limelight. Venice, as the center of baroque music at the time, would also play an important role in the concerts.
Provincial Governor Anton Mattle (ÖVP) wanted to see Innsbruck as such. “The Festival Weeks have been around for almost half a century now, and they are an absolute guarantee for performances at the highest level,” emphasized Mattle, who is responsible for the cultural agenda. It is also particularly important that some of the access is low-threshold: “You can also take part in the mobile concerts or the lunchtime concerts without paying an entrance fee.”
Innsbruck’s mayor Georg Willi (Greens) also emphasized this aspect and the function of the festival as a “guest magnet”: “These guests, who appreciate the festival as a center of historically informed performance practice, like to stay longer.” It is important both to connect to the history of Innsbruck as “music capital in the Renaissance and Baroque periods” and to “continue thinking and developing” the festival weeks.
In addition, one can follow the 14 years of De Marchi’s directorship, said Mattle: “He shaped the festival weeks musically and stands for the highest musical quality”. However, he does not want to do anything to the upcoming musical director, Ottavio Dantone: “He will find his own way,” said the country manager. In any case, he is handed over “economically well-positioned festival weeks,” said festival week manager Markus Lutz. In 2022, “the utilization rate was 86 percent,” the managing director recalled.
(S E R V I C E – www.altemusik.at )