Michael Guttman, violinist, founder and artistic director of Pietrasanta in Concerto Festival reflects on the festival’s 20 years of classical music performance, which features innovative programming and collaborations with international musicians and interdisciplinary artists
When Michael Guttman first discovered Pietrasanta over 20 years ago while on holiday, he had a clear vision of creating a festival to celebrate the city’s enriching artistic culture, architecture and classical music performance scene.
Today, the Pietrasanta in Concerto Festival hosts the world’s greatest international chamber musicians and interdisciplinary artists, featuring innovative collaborations to revitalise classical music’s traditional festival programming and cultural impact.
Michael Guttman, violinist, founder and artistic director of the Pietrasanta in Concerto Festival, reflects on his discovery of Pietrasanta and how his festival’s unique vision has sustained international recognition over the past 20 years:
’Pietrasanta is a city rich in art, especially marble and bronze artistry. Its proximity to Carrara attracts international sculptors and artisans. I discovered this city through its art and realised its backdrop, combined with music, food, friendship, wine, architecture, and nature (sea, pine trees, marble mountains) created a “magic mix.”
’This year we are celebrating 20 years of this festival’s success and cultural impact. The programming of a concert, for me, must mirror the quality of a great work, with the ideal balance of harmony, rhythm and melody to maintain a “pulse” and connection with the audience that brings together artists from different backgrounds.
’As artistic director I lead with an intuitive, performer-centric approach, emphasising the freedom that must exist when making music, in order to keep it interesting and exciting for everyone involved. My intuition stems from extensive experience as both a performer and festival organizer, and learning from moments where audience connection was lost.
’In the past I’ve often anticipated trends. Spontaneity keeps the spark alive.’
To mark the 20th anniversary of the Pietrasanta in Concerto Festival, Guttman highlights the highly anticipated returns of Martha Argerich and Maxim Vengerov.
The festival kicks off on 21 July in the historical Cloister of Sant’Agostino with the Casa Stradivari Foundation of Cremona, its artistic director, violinist Fabrizio von Arx, the ensemble of the Casa Stradivari, and the Russian-German virtuoso Kirill Troussov, will present an evening entirely dedicated to the violin, featuring music by Geminiani, Corelli, and Vivaldi.
More festival highlights include a programme of works by Saint-Saëns, Glazunov and the little-known contemporary Israeli composer Oded Zehavi with an all-star line-up including Guttman, Jin Zhao, Pierre Génisson and the Brussels Chamber Orchestra.
Beethoven at the Summit brings to a close the complete cycle of Beethoven’s violin sonatas, which began two years ago with the virtuoso violinist Maxim Vengerov and the celebrated Argentinian pianist Sergio Tempo, a rare guest in Italy.
La storia del Festival will be led by Guttman on stage alongside violinist Maria Solozobova, the pre-eminent flautist Andrea Griminelli, Jing Zhao on the cello and the Brussels Chamber Orchestra in a vast program of famous works, from Rossini to Morricone, from Piazzolla to Paganini.
27 and 28 July will be dedicated to concerts by the new talents from the violin masterclass led by Vernikov, Makarova, Hiber and Guttman, and the cello masterclass led by Jing Zhao, Chauchian and Geringas, in the Romanesque country church of Santi Giovanni e Felicita in the hamlet of Valdicastello, the village where Carducci was born. There will also be a viola masterclass with Pierre-Henri Xuereb, professor at the Paris Conservatoire.
28 July features a traditional concert in Duomo Square with one of the most innovative, original and unpredictable groups on the international scene: the Janovska Ensemble.
The festival returns to its Cloister on 29 July for Mendelssohn’s Paradise with a programme dedicated to Felix Mendelssohn, enriched by two exceptional cellists, Jing Zhao and Alexander Chaushian, alongside Guttman on violin for the Trio, and pianist Denis Kozhukhin.
On 30 July the artistic and life partners Michael Guttman and Jing Zhao feature in Origins and Discoveries, with the world premiere of Sir Yehudi Menuhin’s Concerto for Two Violins. Joining Guttman and the resident orchestra on stage are two great soloists: the star French violinist Philippe Graffin, making his debut in Pietrasanta, and the young oboist and conductor Patricia Kachkalyan Gomes.
Masters of Classical Music on 31 July will feature works by Schubert, Haydn and Beethoven, performed by the Cameristi del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Zhao and Guttman, offering a first glimpse of another renowned musical family: that of the star and icon of the piano, Martha Argerich.
The close of the festival features the students of the cello masterclass led by Jing Zhao, and in the evening at the Cloister, the first event Martha Argerich and Friends alternating with her protégés and long-standing partners, from the Tuscan pianist Gabriele Baldocci to the Japanese Akane Sakai, alongside Lyda Chen-Argerich, Jing Zhao and Guttman himself. The grand finale on August 2 features the addition of the young violinist Julian Kainrath.
Find out more about Pietrasanta in Concerto here: https://www.pietrasantainconcerto.com/en
Photo credit: Bernard Rosenberg
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