Oh August... you are by far the least eventful month for the visual arts.
For those of you new to the art scene, this is the time of year when the gallerists, dealers, curators, and art event coordinators all take a break from the (art) world. And boy is it felt.
I wish I had some über-exciting gallery or museum event to discuss. I know that for those of you in Texas, Sicily, and other areas of the world lying closest to the equator, going to a museum would be a welcome relief from the triple-digit temperatures (Fahrenheit). However, for the rest of us, the current climate makes it the perfect summer month for vacations. As the tourists flow into the major cities: New York, London, Madrid, Paris, Rome...you get the idea, the citizens of these locales escape the chaos and 'heat.'
Aside from this lull in the arts, I am incredibly fortunate to be living near the city where open-air music concerts enliven August nights. As of nearly 5 weeks ago I have been living and working in a small frazione called Oggebbio. In the middle of nowhere as it may be, I am afforded beautiful views of the Swiss Alps and Lago Maggiore. Besides being known as the most northern point of Italy (a far stretch from my Sicilian roots), Piemonte also hosts a wonderful event every summer called Le Settimane Musicali di Stresa, roughly translated the musical weeks of Stresa. Stresa is a little town, not too far from where I am, that is known as a little epicenter of culture flooded once a year by hosts of music enthusiasts, who come for the classical music and the ambiance of Lago Maggiore.
The Stresa Festival (in short) is a few weeks long classical music concert which begins with Musical Meditations from July 30th to August 7th. However the most critical weeks in Stresa are during the Visions concerts, which begin on August 22nd and last until September 5th this year. During this period there is concert every night (and on some occasions 2). The composers range from Beethoven and Strauss to Gershwin and Dvořák.
As far as international classical music festivals go, this is ranks in the leagues of the summertime festivities in Lucerne (Switzerland), among others. Unfortunately, regular concert tickets are not free and often sold out (opening night is fully booked). However, Groups (4+) and those under 26 can get tickets for a mere 5 and 10 euro, respectively. If you plan on going you might be in luck to find an available non-balcony seat for 25 euro. I hope to score some tickets to Jokes, Bach's Sonatas + Partitas (I & II), New Worlds, or Il Matrimonia Segreto.
With or without tickets, I will still make it my duty to visit Stresa during the concert and hope some of the music floats to my ears. I know this is not going along with my usual theme, but if you feel a lack of art in your life during the summer months, then you very often have to think outside the box.
Now if we could just do something about this rain...
