SHMF 2024 is all about Venice!

A place of longing, a city of canals and splendid festivities: the festival summer 2024 is dedicated to the musical metropolis of Venice. To this day, the city casts a spell over its visitors and exudes a special magic with its picturesque coulisse.

From the Renaissance to the modern age, European musicians and composers met in Venice and drove innovations in vocal and instrumental music throughout the continent: in St. Mark's Basilica, Venetian polychoral vocal works flourished, and with the world's first public opera house and a total of around 20 opera houses in Venice in the 17th century, the city was considered a center for vocal music. George Frideric Handel, Gioachino Rossini and Guiseppe Verdi are just a few of the great names who had their operas performed here. And last but not least, the Venetian Antonio Vivaldi shaped the sound of the city with concerts of his orchestra of the Ospedale della Pietà - an orphanage for girls that was more like a music conservatory.

With works by Giovanni Gabrieli and Claudio Monteverdi, Antonio Vivaldi and Tomaso Albinoni as well as Guiseppe Verdi, Richard Wagner and many others, the festival will explore the musical spectrum of Venice in the summer of 2024. In addition to concerts, opera evenings, chamber music and recitals, the program includes evenings inspired by the Venetian Carnival, the bon vivant Giacomo Casanova and the popular songs of the gondoliers.