1917 and Dante's 'Divine Comedy'

As I underlined two years ago (in 'An Imperial Festival', 11 June 2015), twenty eight years from its creation, the Ravenna Festival (25 May-22 July 2017) has become the Salzburg Festival's Italian rival. This year the Summer Festival features 160 performances from concerts with important conductors (ie Muti, Temirkanov, Bichkov, Valčuha and Dantone), ballet, old silent movies with new compositions to accompany them, experimental theatre and shows based on the Medieval approach of involving the whole city and its surrounding. The Summer Festival is followed in the Fall by a shorter manifestation called Symphony of the Autumn, three operas with the same director and a cast of young singers; this year the theme is verismo. In addition, in the beautiful Teatro Alighieri, there is a 'season' of operas and plays and in various settings, concerts often organized by the Byzantine Academy, which is known worldwide and has its headquarters in Ravenna...