Troubles in Florence

Maggio Musicale Fiorentino's 'Fidelio'
is performed under difficult conditions,
described by GIUSEPPE PENNISI

At its seventy-eighth edition, the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino (MMF) is one of the oldest and most respected Italian music festivals. This year, it lasts from 27 April to 28 June and features four operas, several symphony and chamber music concerts, as well as a section on cinema and lyric art. Nonetheless, the MMF has been having two major problems for the last several years: its original mission ('to rediscover forgotten masterpieces and present them along with new works') appears lost (as well as that of inviting visual artists for the sets) and huge financial deficits have required several direct Government interventions. Meanwhile, a new technologically advanced thirty million euro theatre has been built whilst the audience seems to be declining steadily, also because other theatres in Tuscany are gaining ground...

LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN

FIDELIO

FLORENCE

ITALY