GOOD-BYE GHENT. HELLO GLYNDEBOURNE

MUSIC FESTIVALS ARE MORE THAN SUPPOSED OASES OF WELL-BEING

We are happy to invest the money for tickets to music festivals and unforgettable moments. At the Flanders Festival Ghent, however, our seats will remain empty in the future.

Not simply back to business as usual

All too soon, it was back to business as usual. The show must go on. The Flanders Festival Ghent canceled the planned concert by conductor Lahav Shani with the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra on the grounds that the Israeli-born conductor had not distanced himself clearly enough from the politics of the state of Israel.

Following the outraged protests of a few voices, the festival management issued a press release arguing that they did not want to disturb the “peace and quiet” of the festival.

When a festival management makes a decision with the unanimous approval of the entire board, engages in anti-Semitism and speaks of a feel-good atmosphere without any awareness of history, you can’t go back to business as usual.

For us, solidarity with the disinvited artists means that the beautiful city of Ghent and its music festival can do without our visit from now on. We would much rather invest our time and money in other classical music festivals.

Glyndebourne

1934: The conductor Fritz Busch refused to dismiss Jewish artists from his orchestra at the Semperoper in Dresden. Even when the then Reich Minister of Economics, Göring, threatened him with personal consequences. When he was chased away from the conductor’s podium by SA men, he emigrated to England. The dramaturge Carl Ebert, then director of the Deutsche Oper Berlin, and his colleague Rudolf Bing, who was threatened because of his Jewish origins, also emigrated to the United Kingdom.

Glyndebourne 2025

The three of them founded the Glyndebourne Opera House in a barn in the countryside. An outstanding opera festival is held there every year. Every visit there is a special event due to the musical quality, new voices to be discovered, interesting productions, the wonderful landscape around the opera house, other visitors in a good mood and, last but not least, the opportunity to enjoy a formidable picnic on the lawn in front of the opera house before and during the intervals.

Arctic Chamber Music Festival

A valued reader drew our attention to this festival in Longyearbyen in Norway’s Spitsbergen. Europe’s northernmost music festival has been taking place in this once important mining town since 2018.

At 78 degrees latitude, you can experience outstanding chamber musicians in an almost surreal landscape of snow, ice and polar nights. The starry sky alone makes the journey there a special experience. Before the concerts, you can watch polar bears, go cross-country skiing or whizz through the snow-covered landscape on a dog sled.

The evening dress and tuxedo are not required, but warm, windproof clothing and good shoes are definitely needed.

Arctic Chamber Music Festival | acmf.no

Rossini Opera Festival

Other lovely GloriousMe readers love Italy and the Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro. The festival is dedicated to the composer Rossini and the beautiful Teatro Rossini literally calls for an elegant cocktail or evening dress.

Bologna and Rimini are the two airports in the vicinity if you want to combine the Rossini Opera Festival with a gourmet tour in Bologna or some dolce far niente on the beach in Rimini.

TRAVEL FEVER FOR THE TIME AFTER COVID-19

The train journey to Pesaro via Milan and Bologna is both stylish and relaxing. You can then get back on the train and travel on to Apulia and Bari.

If you decide to come to this festival, think of us when you say Negroni. You might want to motivate your English-speaking friends to come along. GloriousMe is now also available in English.

Schubertiade Schwarzenberg

Enthusiastic lovers of classical song have the Schubertiade in Schwarzenberg firmly in their diaries. In the delightful Bregenz Forest, you can hear every note and every emotion in the Angelika Kaufmann Hall, a modern, simple wooden building with excellent acoustics. Schubert’s lieder can be perfectly combined with hiking tours here.