I’m so Virtuoso
Virtuoso & Belcanto is an unprecedented event among world-class festivals dedicated to Classical Music.
In no other place than Lucca could the Virtuoso & Belcanto Festival have been created and swiftly establish itself on an international level.
Lucca is the city of music, which gave birth to extraordinary musicians and composers such as Giacomo Puccini, Luigi Boccherini and Alfredo Catalani, and became the place where the talent of the most famous interpreter of virtuoso and romantic music, Niccolò Paganini, thrived and flourished in the early nineteenth century. It is in Lucca that Paganini first fell in love, became a maestro, mastered his art and acquired fame. Today, Lucca has become the setting of a festival of international resonance, in which teaching, competitions and art music are all harmoniously modulated, over the course of a two- week long event.
After 6 years from its inception, more than 700 Students and internationally acclaimed Professors have chosen the Festival as their expressive space
From Lucca, the doors to the 2022 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
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 several possibilities to perform as soloists accompanied by relevant international Orchestras, such as the ORT – Orchestra della Toscana, Nuova Orchestra Scarlatti, Deutsche Symphonie Orchester Berlin as part of the Populäre Konzerte Season at the Berlin Philharmonie, La Filharmonie and other possible ones on the concert series organized by the Jeunesse Kärnten etc.