Somewhere for the weekend: Suoni dal Golfo

Conductor Gianluca Marcianò's festival Suoni dal Golfo returns to Lerici in Ligura, Italy from 16 to 31 August 2018. Marcianò and co-artistic director Maxim Novikov are presenting a programme of music and poetry inspired by the sea and by the poets who were drawn to this emerald coastline.

Liszt's recently re-discovered Italianate opera Sardanapolo will receive its Italian premiere. Liszt worked on the opera intermittently until 1852 when he abandoned it. The libretto is based on Lord Byron's tragedy of 1821, and Liszt completed a substantial part of Act One, but having conducted Wagner's Lohengrin and Tannhauser he stopped work on it. Marcianò will conduct a cast including Anush Hovhannisyan, Sam Sakker and Vazgen Ghazaryan. The orchestra will be Orchestra Excellence, Marcianò and Novikov's new initiative for emerging musicians.

Performing at the festival for the first time is the Polyphony Quartet, which has evolved out of Polyphony Foundation, established by Nabeel Abboud-Ashkar. The mixed group of Arab students from Polyphony Education and Jewish students from the Jerusalem Music Center perform at Castello di Lerici on 22 and 23 August. Polyphony Foundation is an organisation that bridges the divide between Arab and Jewish communities in Israel by uniting young people to perform classical music.

There will also be a programme of talks on Music, Diplomacy and Peace.


Gianluca Marciano's appearances in the UK have included Verdi's Un ballo in maschera at Grange Park Opera [see my review], Verdi's Nabucco with the Chelsea Opera Group [see Anthony's review on this blog] and Verdi's Don Carlo at Grange Park Opera [see my review]

Set on the famous coastline of the Golfo dei Poeti, the seaside town of Lerici has been a magnet for poets and composers alike, from Shelley, Byron and DH Lawrence to Wagner. Further details of the festival from its website.