In the medieval Italian town of Ferrara – a UNESCO World Heritage site and birthplace, in 1452, of Girolamo Savonarola, architect of the infamous ‘Bonfire of the Vanities’.

Ferrara Cathedral

In Bologna, celebrating the 100th anniversary of composer Benjamin Britten at a very enjoyable performance of the opera ‘The Turn of the Screw’.

In the beautiful Austrian capital, Vienna, for the excellent ‘Matisse and the Fauves’ exhibition at the Albertina. Fascinating, colourful paintings from Matisse, Derain, de Vlaminck, et al.

Henri Matisse ‘Open Window, Collioure’ (1905)

André Derain ‘Fishing Boats, Collioure’ (1905)

Maurice de Vlaminck ‘André Derain’ (1906)

Henri Manguin ‘The Prints’ (1905)

Also a great opportunity to go to the Leopold Museum to see the Schiele and Kokoschka collections. A wonderful weekend of art!

Egon Schiele ‘Self Portrait’ (1912)

At the Guggenheim in Venice for the exhibition ‘The Avant-gardes of Fin-de-Siècle Paris’. Wonderful exhibits from the Neo-Impressionist, Nabis and Symbolist movements produced during a time of political upheaval and cultural transformation.

I particularly enjoyed seeing the works of Paul Signac, Camille Pissarro and Théo van Rysselberghe.

Paul Signac ‘Port of Saint Cast’ (1890)

Camille Pissarro ‘Flock of Sheep’ (1888)

Théo van Rysselberg ‘Canal in Flanders’ (1894)

Patrice Chéreau, the French opera and theatre director, has died at the age of 68.

He was responsible for staging what is, in my opinion, one of the greatest opera events ever filmed, the Bayreuth centenary production of Wagner’s Ring Cycle, conducted by Pierre Boulez. It is still as impressive and exciting today as it was when it was made in 1976.

In more recent years I also thoroughly enjoyed his production of Janacek’s ‘From the House of the Dead’ in Aix-en-Provence.

Riccardo Chailly

In Slovenia for the Ljubljana Festival. Two wonderful concerts by the excellent Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, led by Riccardo Chailly. Last night a moving performance of Mahler’s Ninth Symphony and tonight a stirring rendition of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. The lengthy standing ovation at the end of both performances were extremely well deserved – two very memorable evenings.

In the French bastide town of Belvès, Dordogne, for a very enjoyable open-air performance of Shakespeare’s ‘Twelfth Night’ by Antic Disposition.

In Paris for the Rimsky-Korsakov opera-ballet ‘Le Coq d’Or’. A very colourful and enjoyable production at the Théâtre des Champs Elysées, reconstructing the original 1914 Ballets Russes production with costume and set designs by Natalia Gontcharova. A really enjoyable evening.

At the wonderful Marc Chagall exhibition – ‘Entre guerre et paix’ at the Musée du Luxembourg. Beautiful and mysterious scenes from his life in Russia, France and the USA.

Marc Chagall ‘Au-dessus de Vitebsk’ (1915 – 1920)

Marc Chagall ‘Songe d’une Nuit d’Ete’ (1939)

Marc Chagall ‘The Dance’ (1950 – 52)

In Austria for the Salzburg Whitsun Festival. Three wonderful performances by the orchestra, choir and ballet of the Mariinsky Theatre, St. Petersburg under Valery Gergiev.

Stravinsky’s ‘Rite of Spring’ was first performed at the Theatre des Champs Elysees, Paris on 29 May 1913. To commemorate the 100th anniversary the first performance was recreated featuring the original Vaslav Nijinsky choreography and copies of the original costumes and stage sets by Nicholas Roerich.

‘Les Noces’, Stravinsky’s choral ballet, first performed in 1923, featured the choreography of Bronislava Nijinska, with stage sets by Natalia Gontcharova. ‘The Firebird’ featured the choreography of the 1910 premiere by Michel Fokin, with sets and costumes designed by Fokin, Golovin and Leon Bakst.

The standard of performance by both orchestra and dancers was exceptional.  Beautifully sunny Salzburg weather also helped to make it a wonderful weekend.

Salzburg

Grosses Festspielhaus, Salzburg

‘The Rite of Spring’