Modena, Bayreuth, Vienna, Köthen, Varaždin, Basel, Froville

In Modena, Il Diluvio Universale at the Grandezze & Meraviglie festival

At the Church of Sant’Agostino in Modena, the Grandezze & Meraviglie festival, in collaboration with Festivalfilosofia, devoted this year’s edition to the theme of ‘chaos’, with a performance of the oratorio Il Diluvio Universale, composed in 1682 by Michelangelo Falvetti, maestro di cappella at Messina Cathedral.

This musical rarity was performed in its original form by the singers and instrumentalists of the ‘Crescere in Musica’ project, conducted by Sergio Gasparella, with staging by Alberto Allegrezza and choreography by Bernd Niedecken. The oratorio was delivered with great dramatic intensity, its movement lending an evocative, sculptural dimension to Vincenzo Giattini’s libretto, inspired by the biblical account in the Book of Genesis.

The ten singers, along with the two pairs of violinists and violists, moved constantly through the space in front of the altar in the church’s deep chancel, creating a succession of tableaux vivants inspired by the iconography of Baroque painting.

With Crescere in Musica Baroque, Sergio Gasparella, Alberto Allegrezza, Bernd Niedecken, Niccolò Perego, Federica Gasparella, Alberto Peretti, Arthur Rigal Gavioli, Bianca Beltrami, Yui Mochizuki, Mariela Flores, Marina Kerdraon, Carlo Prampolini and Andrea Lagomarsino.

In Bayreuth, The Sopranos : Federico Fiorio, Maayan Licht and Dennis Orellana

At the Margravial Opera House, Bayreuth Baroque brought together three male sopranos: Federico Fiorio, Maayan Licht and Dennis Orellana. A spectacular gamble that revealed three very different personalities in arias by Handel, Hasse, Porpora, Albinoni and Broschi.

Fiorio impressed with the ease and clarity of his virtuosity, Orellana with the freshness of his timbre and a more intimate expressiveness. Maayan Licht, meanwhile, asserted a powerful theatrical personality, turning vocal acrobatics into genuine characterisation. Jarosław Thiel and the Wrocław Baroque Orchestra accompanied this exploration of the male upper register. Monteverdi’s Pur ti miro, brought together as a three-voice encore, provided a conclusion as unexpected as it was beguiling.

The concert is available on ARTE Concert.

With Federico Fiorio, Maayan Licht, Dennis Orellana, the Wrocław Baroque Orchestra and Jarosław Thiel.

In Vienna, a highly inventive Calisto by Cavalli

To open its new season, the Theater an der Wien in Vienna makes a bold statement with Cavalli’s La Calisto, in which director Stefan Herheim returns to his fondness for theatre within theatre, irony and metamorphosis. Ovid’s mythological world becomes a sensual, exuberant exploration of desire, cross-dressing and power relations, complete with a few nods to West Side Story.

In the pit, Christina Pluhar and L’Arpeggiata bring Cavalli to life with freedom, colour and rhythmic vitality, at times even brushing against jazz. Vera-Lotte Boecker makes a theatrically irresistible Calisto, joined by Milan Siljanov, Luciana Mancini, Giuseppina Bridelli and Arnaud Gluck, among others. This richly imaginative production is a reminder of just how strikingly modern La Calisto, first performed in 1651, remains among the operas of the Seicento. The production will return at the Berlin Staatsoper’s Barocktage in November.

With Vera-Lotte Boecker, Milan Siljanov, Luciana Mancini, Giuseppina Bridelli, Arnaud Gluck, L’Arpeggiata and Christina Pluhar.

In Köthen, the 2026 Bachfesttage

The Köthener Bachfesttage placed its 2026 edition under the banner of ‘community’, with around forty events across the town where Johann Sebastian Bach spent five important years of his life. For the opening concert at St Agnus Church, Austrian soprano Miriam Feuersinger reunited with the Köthener BachCollektiv, led from the violin by Midori Seiler and Mayumi Hirasaki.

The programme set the voice alongside several emblematic instrumental works: excerpts from the cantata O holder Tag, erwünschte Zeit BWV 210, the Oboe d’amore Concerto BWV 1055 and Brandenburg Concerto No. 4 BWV 1049. A characteristically ‘Köthen’ way of reminding us that the virtuoso Bach of his years at the princely court never truly separated the individual from the collective. Miriam Feuersinger also rejoined the ensemble for the closing concert.

With Miriam Feuersinger, the Köthener BachCollektiv, Midori Seiler and Mayumi Hirasaki.

In Varaždin, Philippe Jaroussky and Céline Scheen at the Baroque festival

For the opening of its 56th edition, the Varaždin Baroque Evenings in Croatia brought together B’Rock Orchestra, Philippe Jaroussky and Céline Scheen in a programme entitled City, Court & Church, linking three facets of 18th-century Europe. Under Jaroussky’s artistic direction, the concert paired Benda’s Violin Concerto in B flat, with Evgeny Sviridov as soloist, with Vivaldi’s deeply moving Filiae maestae Jerusalem. The high point of the evening, Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater, allowed Céline Scheen and Philippe Jaroussky to contrast and blend their timbres in the cathedral’s acoustic.

The Varaždin Baroque Evenings (Varaždinske barokne večeri) take place in Varaždin, northern Croatia, around 80 km north of Zagreb. Its 17 concerts occupy several of the town’s historic venues, including the cathedral, the churches of St Nicholas and St Florian, the Sermage Palace and the Croatian National Theatre, as well as sites in the surrounding area, including Trakošćan Castle.

With Philippe Jaroussky, Céline Scheen, Evgeny Sviridov and the B’Rock Orchestra.

In Basel, Niccolò Jommelli’s La Critica

To close the Erasmus klingt! festival in Basel, the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis revived Niccolò Jommelli’s La Critica, a delicious satire of the operatic world first performed in 1766. Virtuoso singers, prima and seconda donnas, poets and impresarios: Jommelli casts an amused eye over the rivalries and vanities of an operatic world that was already profoundly European.

The production brought together student singers and instrumentalists from the Schola, under the musical direction of Ilyès Bouyenzar, Johannes Friederich and Mimoe Todo, with Andrea Marcon providing musical supervision. Deda Cristina Colonna directed the production, while students from Basel’s Hochschule für Gestaltung und Kunst were also involved in the costumes and scenography.

With singers and instrumentalists from the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis, Ilyès Bouyenzar, Johannes Friederich and Mimoe Todo (musical direction), Andrea Marcon (musical supervision).

Froville Competition 2026: a truly international prize list

Canadian soprano Bridget Esler, 26, won First Prize at the 15th Froville International Baroque Singing Competition, as well as the Audience Prize. Esler is currently a member of the Atelier lyrique at the Opéra de Montréal. Her career already has a distinctly international dimension, with appearances involving the London Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, Tanglewood Music Center and Marlboro Music Festival, as well as masterclasses with Joyce DiDonato at Carnegie Hall.

Swedish soprano Josefine Mindus took Second Prize. Born near Stockholm, she is already a professional opera singer based in Germany and has been a member of the ensemble at the Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden since the 2024–25 season.

Italian countertenor Andrea Gavagnin took Third Prize. He trained at the Conservatorio Benedetto Marcello in Venice and subsequently at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels. One revealing detail of his musical profile: he later taught ornamentation, vocal diminution and improvisation there.

French mezzo-soprano Celeste Ingrand, named best young prospect, and French soprano Tanaquil Ollivier, winner of the Génération Opéra Prize, complete the prize list. The six finalists, selected from sixteen candidates, were accompanied by I Gemelli for the final on 20 September at Froville church.

With Bridget Esler (1^er Prize and Audience Prize), Josefine Mindus (Second Prize), Andrea Gavagnin (Third Prize), Celeste Ingrand (best young prospect), Tanaquil Ollivier (Génération Opéra Prize) and I Gemelli.