Music Cruises

Allegro Holiday News Page

Posted 24 July 2007
Music in Rome July 2007
Rome-New Auditorium Parco Della Musica through July 31, 2007 

In the best tradition of Italian summer festivals, July Sounds Good at the Auditorium Parco della Musica in Rome is a series of outdoor concerts held in the Cavea of the Auditorium. The line-up for 2007 included Patti Smith, Lou Reed, Pink, Mario Biondi and the Duke Orchestra among many others. 

Posted 23 Jul 2007
Cortona Festival August 4-16 2007
In the charming Tuscan hill town of Cortona, the local Sun Festival in August has been named one of the "Ten Best Summer Arts Festivals in Europe"!  The festival is filled with all types of entertainment for every type of visitor, such as: classical music, art exhibitions, lectures, poetry readings, food and wine tasting, and much more.  All of the activities will be taking place at various venues throughout Cortona.  The 2007 edition will begin with an open-air symphony concert that will be presented by the world renown Sophia Loren.  Countless other performance and exhibitions will follow as well, kicking off what it sure to be a successful and exciting year for the festival in this atmospheric town.

Posted 6 July 2007
THE FESTIVAL OF SANTA ROSALIA in Palermo Italy July 9-25 2007
In celebration of the memory of Santa Rosalia, the patron Saint of Palermo, a festival of music and fireworks takes place every summer. In 1624, Santa Rosalia miraculously saved the people of Palermo from the plague, after several other saints had failed at doing so.  The inhabitants remembered this saint from Palermo, found her bones, and carried them around the city...soon after, the plague incredibly came to an end.  During the festival, the Santuzza (little saint) is proudly carried on a large float, and is the centerpiece of the main parade.  It is a wonderful, 'baroque' festival filled with lively people and traditional food. 

Posted 5 July 2007

Festival Internazionale di Villa Adriana Rome through 18 July 2007

This Festival is an international event combining music, theatre and dance performances and taking place at Villa Adriana and Villa d'Este, a UNESCO World Heritage sites in Rome. The program began on June 16 with Dionisiache by Giorgio Barberio Corsetti, while Argentinian director Rodrigo Garcia appears in the festival with his new creation, Cruda, vuelta y vuelta, al punto, chamuscada, dedicated to the carnival tradition of the Murga. Over a four-evening period, Villa Adriana hosts a series of music performances that span the musical worlds: from the Indian musical tradition with The Manganiyar Seduction, to the contemporary sound of Ludovico Einaudi in a concert inspired by the age of myth, and finally, folk music performed by Ambrogio Sparagna and his orchestra.  Dance performances include the young Belgian-Moroccan choreographer Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui and his “Myth”, dedicated to childhood and mythical figures.  The festival will end with Vertiges, film director Tony Gatlif’s passionate homage to gypsy art.

Posted 2 July 2007

Torre Del Lago Puccini Festival 7 July- 16 Aug 2007
The Puccini Festival was established in 1930 as a result of Puccini’s wishes expressed

in a letter written in 1924.  He wrote about simply wishing to listen to one of his operas in the “open–air”.  Unfortunately, Puccini died shortly after the letter was written.  However, the Festival welcomes around 40,000 visitors a year who come to listen to Puccini’s magnificent operas in its open-air theatre, which is near the “Villa Mausoleum”, where the composer lived, worked and is buried (in a small chapel inside the Villa).  For inquiries call 416 362 3387 or 1 800 838 6860

Posted 18 June 2007

Spoleto Festival - "Festival dei Due Mondi June 29th - July 15th, 2007

The Spoleto Festival - "The Festival of Two Worlds" is an event unique in its conception, spirit and criteria, embracing all aspects of the performing and figurative arts in the charming town of Spoleto just an hour and a half away from Rome. It was created in 1958 by Giancarlo Menotti, the most represented living composer in the world, and today, the Festival is organized by his son, Francis.  This annual festival includes everything from theatre and ballet to classical music and visual arts, and will be celebrating its 50th anniversary this year

Posted 9 May/07
New ticket availability
TEATRO ALLA SCALA, MILAN
LA TRAVIATA (G. Verdi)

Consider the following attractive Summer combination in Northern Italy:

Friday, July 20 , 2007 LA TRAVIATA (G. Verdi)
cond. Lorin Maazel; with J. Kaufmann, R. Frontali, A. Gheorghiu

all best category stall seats!

possible combinations with:

VENICE, TEATRO LA FENICE
July 14,15 - AGUA Thanztheater Wuppertal, Pina Bausch

VERONA, ARENA
July 20 - NABUCCO
July 17,22,25 - AIDA
July 18,21,24,27 - LA BOHEME
JUly 19,26 - IL BARBIERE DI SIVIGLIA

RAVENNA FESTIVAL
July 21,22 - SYMPH. CONCERT Orchestra e Coro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentini,
cond. Muti
July 22 - GALA PERFORMANCE with A. Ferri and R. Bolle

TORRE DEL LAGO, PUCCINI FESTIVAL
July 20,29 - MADAMA BUTTERFLY
July 21,28 - TOSCA 

Please don't hesitate to contact us for further information, tailor-made itineraries & attractive combinations, best available tickets, selected hotels & restaurants, qualified guides & special visits...........at competitive rates!!  

Posted 30 Apr 2007
SUMMER EVENINGS OF GREAT MUSIC AT THE COURTYARD OF S. IVO ALLA SAPIENZA in Rome
This summer, for its 26^th consecutive concert season, the International Chamber Ensemble will once again treat Rome audiences to fourteen unforgettable evenings featuring musical masterpieces from the symphonic and operatic repertory in the courtyard of one of the eternal city’s most splendid examples of Renaissance architecture. Located in the heart of ancient Rome just a short walk from Piazza Navona, the Courtyard of S. Ivo alla Sapienza (hallowed halls of the original 15^th century university of Rome) will lend its architectural and acoustical excellence, to the International Chamber Ensemble’s 2007 summer series. The season’s repertory highlights  music ranging from the concertos of Vivaldi to the celebrated melodies of the Beatles, from the romantic “Romeo and Juliet” by Tchaikovsky to Astor Piazzolla’s sensual tangos and includes music for symphony orchestra and for soloists as well as four fully-staged and costumed performances of Mozart’s opera “Don Giovanni”, presented in collaboration with the Opera Academy company of international singers. Under the exceptional direction of Francesco Carotenuto, this twenty-sixth season guarantees, as always, to please both veteran and novice concert and opera goers alike.

 The calendar of performances for the XXVI season  follows….. 

Evenings of Great Music at the St. Ivo Courtyard

Corso Rinascimento n.40 

June 30, July 3 and 5   9:30pm

ANTONIO VIVALDI “A Concert of Concertos”

Concerto in D minor for orchestra “Madrigalesco”

Concerto in E major for violin and orchestra “Winter” from the Four Seasons

Concerto in D major for oboe and orchestra RV 453

Concerto in B-flat major for violin, ‘cello and orchestra

Concerto in  A minor for 2 violins and orchestra

Concerto in C major for 2 trumpets and orchestra

Soloists Giuliano Bisceglia, Luca Vignali, Antonio Ramous, Henry Domenico Durante, Alessandro Verzari, Marco Diano

The International Chamber Ensemble

Conductor Francesco Carotenuto

July 10 and 14    9:30pm

“The fabulous ‘60s – from Piazzolla to the Beatles”

Suite for string orchestra “The Beatles” featuring music by

J. LENNON, P. McCARTNEY and G. HARRISON

ASTOR PIAZZOLLA “Yo soy Maria”, “Adios nonino”, “Balda para un loco”, “Oblivion”, “Libertango”, “Violentango”

The International Chamber Ensemble String Orchestra

Conductor Francesco Carotenuto

July 20, 21, 24 and 25    9:00pm

DON GIOVANNI

Opera in two acts by

W.A. MOZART

Conductor Francesco Carotenuto

Stage Director Richard Harrell

The Opera Academy Company

The International Chamber Ensemble Symphony Orchestra

July 28, 31 and August 1    9:30pm

P.I. TCHAIKOVSKY

Romeo and Juliet

Symphony n.5 op.64 in e minor

The International Chamber Ensemble Symphony Orchestra

Conductor Francesco Carotenuto

August 4 and 7    9:30pm

“The fabulous ‘60s – from Piazzolla to the Beatles”

Suite for string orchestra “The Beatles” featuring music by

J. LENNON, P. McCARTNEY and G. HARRISON

ASTOR PIAZZOLLA “Yo soy Maria”, “Adios nonino”, “Balda para un loco”, “Oblivion”, “Libertango”, “Violentango”

The String Orchestra of the International Chamber Ensemble

Conductor Francesco Carotenuto

Vienna Walzer Concerts    NEW for  2007

In the  world famous Palais PALFFY (14th Century), in the FIGARO HALL where Mozart gave Concerts at 1762 with his sister.

Per request

Price categories:  

-                     category VIP:   56 €

-                     category A:       46 €

-                     category B:       36 €

LI Schietti Festival, Terrasini, Palermo, Sicily April 7-8
This festival dates back to the time of the Saracens: During the event, young unmarried men, the “schietti” - face off in an orange tree lifting competition. The tree is cut during a ceremony on Holy Saturday. It is then decorated with colored ribbons, scarves and little bells and it is carried to town by people who sing and play music. The competition is held on Easter Sunday. In the past, each competitor dedicated his efforts to his beloved. The young “schietti” wear typical costumes worn by ancient people of the Agrigento area of Sicily.