Official tourism site of the municipality of Castiglione della Pescaia
Italian Opera summer school
The Georg Solti Academy, created in 2004 to honour the memory of the famous maestro Sir Georg Solti, offers a unique and engaging training experience for young opera singers and répétiteurs at the beginning of their career, and over the years has become one of the most successful training programmes for young operatic professionals in the world.
Each year, the Georg Solti Academy of Bel Canto summer school in Castiglione della Pescaia, Tuscany, offers up to twelve young singers a fully funded three-week immersion in Italian opera singing, with particular attention to language, style and technique in the Italian repertoire of the 19th and early 20th century. The places are offered to twelve exceptional students, carefully selected from all over the world, who will enjoy an unique opportunity to immerse themselves in Italian language and culture, spending their time in Castiglione della Pescaia in training courses given by important opera singers, language experts and vocal technicians, focusing on the mastery of the art of bel canto.
Artistic director Jonathan Papp notes: “The Italian vocal tradition, if properly learned, offers singers a fundamental and sustainable technique, which is valuable both in terms of total voice control and vocal longevity – and is something increasingly rare. This basis of technical stability is the foundation of the entire repertoire. Not all students have a specialist and linguistic training in this bel canto tradition, acquired at colleges and conservatories, and the timeframe they have to acquire a multitude of languages and styles is short. This Academy fills a gap that is often present in the training of most young singers, offering them a musical “toolbox” and a dramatic and creative vision, which will allow them to reach their full potential.”
The course is planned and conducted by the academy’s artistic director, Jonathan Papp, and over the years the teaching staff have included such personalities as New Zealand soprano Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, Jose Carreras, Sir Richard Bonynge, Barbara Frittoli, Angela Gheorghiu, Carmen Giannattasio, Leo Nucci, Sir Dennis O’Neill, Frederica von Stade, Mirella Freni, Sir Thomas Allen and many others of the world’s leading opera singers.
For more information go to www.georgsoltiaccademia.org
