RAVELLO, Campania — The 74th edition of the Ravello Festival will unfold this summer against one of Italy’s most celebrated backdrops, bringing together leading orchestras, conductors and soloists for a two-month programme on the hilltop village overlooking the Mediterranean.
Held in the gardens of Villa Rufolo, the festival will run from July 4 to September 5, featuring 22 events spanning opera, symphonic repertoire, baroque, jazz, chamber music and theatre. The historic site, a 13th-century monumental complex renowned for its Arab-Sicilian-Norman architecture, stunning terraced gardens, and panoramic Amalfi Coast views, is famous for inspiring Richard Wagner’s ‘Magic garden of Klingsor’ in 1880.
Global stage, historic setting
The festival, organised by the Fondazione Ravello with support from the Campania Region, will host internationally renowned figures including Daniele Gatti, Jordi Savall, Simon Rattle and Kent Nagano, alongside ensembles such as the Orchestra del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino and the Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della RAI.
Onofrio Cutaia, culture councillor for the region of Campania where Ravello is located, said the festival “confirms its place among the leading events on the international music scene,” adding that it helps project southern Italy’s cultural offer “into a cosmopolitan dimension”.
The mayor of Ravello, Paolo Vuilleumier, described the event as “a meeting point between art and territory,” combining major performances with the town’s historic landscape and tourism appeal.
Tradition and innovation
The opening concert on July 4 will feature Wagner and Ludwig van Beethoven, setting the tone for a programme that moves between eras and styles. Artistic director Lucio Gregoretti said the 2026 edition is built around “a unified path, in which individual concerts speak to one another”.
“The reference to Wagner remains an identity element,” he said, “but within a broader design that crosses symphonic repertoire and musical theatre, from the Baroque to the present day.”
