I’m so Virtuoso
Virtuoso & Belcanto is an unprecedented event among world-class festivals dedicated to Classical Music.
After 4 editions realised in the city of Lucca and one edition entirely online, the 2021 Edition has chosen the best from previous years. In-Person lessons and live concerts, hybridised with the best parts of the 2020 Connected Edition: artists and students meeting each other from every corner of the world, availability of access to content online and live-streaming.
It didn’t seem possible to create a Festival that finds a balance between present and connected, live and online; Virtuoso & Belcanto simply does it.
From Lucca and Worldwide, the doors to the 2021 Edition are open to you.
Permanent Manifesto
“The richness of great music is inexhaustible, and the performer should try to react to each single case with a fresh and unbiased mind.”
Alfred Brendel – July 2020
The great Maestro Alfred Brendel sent a letter to fellow musicians, professors and students of Virtuoso & Belcanto in July 2020. It contains words that fully represent the teaching methods and values that have characterised the Virtuoso & Belcanto Festival since its inception. For this reason, the Festival’s Artistic Director, maestro Riccardo Cecchetti, made them the Permanent Manifesto of Virtuoso & Belcanto.
From the heart of Lucca to the World, for everyone
Music lovers around the world will have the possibility to follow the rich programing of the Virtuoso & Belcanto 2021 Edition, in-person or via the On-Demand Events Calendar, by renting or purchasing concerts, talks and other content online.
Every July, for the past five years, in Lucca and everywhere else.
Take your place
From the 2016 Edition of Virtuoso & Belcanto, two weeks of intense in-person lessons, masterclasses and advanced courses have been held by world renowned maestros, divided by instrument.
The chamber music competitions are reserved to active participants, offering concert engagements and/or cash prizes for the winners as well as the opportunity to perform with important orchestras in the most notable musical locations in Europe.
The winners of the solo competition, chosen from the best performing musicians in the Violin, Viola, Cello and Piano categories will have the possibility to perform as a soloist at the Berlin Philharmonie, a temple of classical music, accompanied by the Deutsche Symphonie-Orchester Berlin as part of the Populäre Konzerte Season.
The winners may also perform with the NOW! Nova Orchester Wien; the Viennese orchestra organizes concerts at the Musikverein and/or the Vienna Konzerthaus. Even more, Virtuoso & Belcanto is in collaboration with one of the most well-known stable Italian orchestras, the ORT, l’Orchestra della Toscana, to give winners the possibility to perform in exceptional theatres like Florence’s Teatro Verdi.