Rossini in Wildbad 2023
Rossini in Wildbad 2023
The 34th Belcanto Opera Festival will take place from July 14th to 23rd, 2023. The internationally renowned opera festival in the wildly romantic Kurpark in the middle of the northern Black Forest: the Rossini Festival is known worldwide for its new discoveries in the bel canto opera repertoire.
Rossini in Wildbad is an unusual festival that counts on curious and quality-conscious visitors from all over the world. The location is unusual for an internationally renowned opera festival: in the wildly romantic Kurpark in the middle of the northern Black Forest, one would not initially expect great opera. But with the enchanting Königliches Kurtheater in the style of a Swiss chalet with neo-baroque elements and the sober elegance of the new-style drinking hall, there are two suitable venues available, to which a few others have been added. Look forward to a varied program.
The festival's new bel canto discovery is the monumental opera “Gli arabinelle Gallie” by Giovanni Pacini. This opera, which places enormous demands on the soloists, choir and orchestra, is being performed for the first time in modern times. Secure your tickets for the unique performance!
The reason: In June 1856, the extremely successful opera composer Gioachino Rossini stayed for several weeks in the Black Forest idyll of Wildbad and enjoyed the calming effect of the thermal baths in the princely baths. With success! Already at the beginning of 1857 he resumed composing after a decade-long break, and a series of works emerged which he affectionately and ironically described as "sins of old age". The Rossini Festival is known worldwide for its new discoveries in the bel canto opera repertoire and for its singer discoveries, which have led to numerous CD productions with reference character.
About the Rossini in Wildbad
Rossini in Wildbad is a bel canto opera festival in Bad Wildbad, Baden-Württemberg, specialising in the lesser-known operas of Gioachino Rossini and his contemporaries. The festival commemorates a stay by Rossini at the town's spa in 1856, which apparently invigorated him enough to start composing again.
The festival, which takes place annually in June and July, was founded in 1989 by the conductor Wilhelm Keitel as artistic director and the culture manager Rüdiger Krüger as organizational director at the suggestion of Margarete Bott, who campaigned with fellow campaigners for the restoration of the Royal Kurtheater. Jochen Schönleber has been the artistic director since the end of 1991 and artistic director since 2000.
Opera performances originally took place in the Kurhaus , which is still occasionally used for rehearsals and concerts. Since 2010, the opera performances and many recordings have taken place in the New Drinking Hall . Since 2005, operas and concerts have also been shown and recorded in the Royal Kurtheater and given in the Forum König-Karls-Bad (guest house). All venues are located in or in the immediate vicinity of the Wildbader Kurpark, which is directly connected to the city of Pforzheim via the Enztalbahn (in the Karlsruhe Stadtbahn network ); the starting times of the performances are expressly set to be “light rail friendly”.
The BelCanto Academy was founded in autumn 2004 in connection with the festival . Academy director is Jochen Schönleber . The first lecturers were Alberto Zedda , Kurt Widmer , the young Joyce DiDonato on the occasion of a CD production of the opera La Cenerentola with the then SWR Radio Orchestra Kaiserslautern for the label NAXOS. Numerous well-known singers have graduated from the academy, including Michael Spyres, Olga Peretyatko and many more.