ORT: Ville e Giardini Incantati

There are certain summer evenings when gardens seem to naturally transform into places for listening. It is then and there that, for the past 10 years, the music of the Orchestra della Toscana (ORT or Orchestra of Tuscany) has encountered the Medici villas and monumental places within the territory, giving life to Ville e Giardini Incantati (Enchanted Villas and Gardens)—not just a festival but a way of inhabiting these spaces through sound.

The 10ᵗʰ edition, which takes place from July 11 to August 1, features 15 concerts across 10 venues including Medici Villas and Gardens, UNESCO World Heritage Sites, Forte di Belvedere, Palazzo Mediceo in Seravezza and the new stage of Villa di Poggio Reale in Rufina.

Opening the festival is Diego Ceretta, Chief Conductor of the ORT, with Mendelssohn and Schubert, one evoking the landscape of The Hebrides, the other the dramatic tension of Symphony No. 4, the “Tragic”. 

This is followed by programs ranging from the classicism of Haydn and Beethoven to the lyricism of the Italian Symphony by Mendelssohn, to Mozart and musical theater with Michaël Cousteau and soprano Letizia Bertoldi.

Alongside the symphony concerts are more cross-cutting projects: Semplicemente Ornella (Simply Ornella), a tribute to Italian songwriting with Lucia Sargenti and the brass instruments of the ORT, followed by Sextuors Concertants dedicated to the chamber music of Mozart and Čajkovsky, concluding with the final concert entrusted to the ORT strings with Giacomo Bianchi, between Mozart and Tchaikovsky’s Serenade for Strings.

7 different productions united by a common thread: music that dialogs with places without overpowering them, transforming villas, gardens and historic spaces into places of lived experience.

For additional information, the full schedule and ticket purchases, see the official ORT website.