Aldeburgh Festival
The Aldeburgh Festival is an English music festival mainly dedicated to performing classical music . It takes place annually in Aldeburgh , Suffolk , since 1967 mainly in the concert hall in an old malt house in the neighboring village of Snape .
History of the Aldeburgh Festival
The festival was started in 1948 by the British composer Benjamin Britten , the singer Peter Pears and the librettist Eric Crozier . The original reason was the desire to find a venue for their joint opera company, the English Opera Group , but the idea of the festival was soon expanded to include poetry readings, literary and theater events, lectures and art exhibitions. The first festival took place from June 5th to 13th, 1948. The main venue was the Aldeburgh Jubilee Hall, which was only a few steps away from Britten's house. The first works performed included Britten's opera Albert Herring and his cantata Saint Nicolas , op. 42, composed especially for the festival . Various works by Benjamin Britten were premiered at the festival (e.g. A Midsummer Night's Dream 1960; Death in Venice 1973).
Over time, the dimensions of the festival grew and other venues such as the Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul in Aldeburgh and the nearby towns of Orford , Blythburgh and Framlingham were added. In the 1960s, the festival was given its own venue, which was gained by converting a former malt house in the village of Snape into a large concert hall with 832 seats. The new concert hall was inaugurated by Queen Elisabeth II on June 2, 1967 for the opening of the 20th Aldeburgh Festival.
Two years later, the concert hall was destroyed by fire on the opening night of the festival. This year the events of the festival took place in other rooms, but the following year the rebuilt concert hall was inaugurated again by the Queen.
The festival today
The festival has been organized by Aldeburgh Music (previously Aldeburgh Productions and others) since July 2006 . World premieres of new music , the presentation of new interpretations and the rediscovery of forgotten music are still the focus of the festival program. Since the beginning, the festival has been dedicated to nurturing young talent by bringing young artists together with established stars. In 2009 new buildings were built, such as the Hoffmann Building, the Britten Studio with 340 seats, the Jerwood Kiln Studio with 75 seats and some facilities for the artists.
The artistic director of the festival has been the pianist Pierre-Laurent Aimard since 2009 .
Award
- International Opera Award 2014 , Anniversary Production (Britten) for Peter Grimes on the beach
World premieres
- A Midsummer Night's Dream , opera by Benjamin Britten , June 11, 1960
- Death in Venice , opera by Benjamin Britten , June 16, 1973
Web link
- www.aldeburgh.co.uk : website of the festival
Individual evidence
- ↑ Brief description on www.aldeburgh.co.uk
- ↑ overgrownpath.com : Aldeburgh has always been about the new. Retrieved March 28, 2012
- ↑ Press release ( Memento of December 7, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) of the Aldeburgh Festival (PDF; 116 kB)