The obscure charm of the open-air music festival (Part Two)

(Second part)

It would be a big mistake to imagine that open-air music festivals are just for fans of pop and rock; jazz and classical events are every bit as popular.

Leading the field here has to be the renowned Montreux Jazz Festival. Although most of the action takes place indoors, the Parc Venex venue is especially beautiful, its setting on the shores of Lake Geneva creating the perfect atmosphere to enjoy the performances of the world’s leading jazz and crossover artists.

Opera is the mainstay of the world famous Glyndebourne and Garsington festivals, although purists tend to criticise the snobbery and social climbing that often overshadows the musical content.

Trumping the country house settings of Glyndebourne and Garsington, the Verona Opera Festival can be proud of its peerless venue, the Arena di Verona. Dating back to A.D.30, this Roman amphitheatre lends a touch of grandeur to any musical concert. The 2010 Festival features opera by Verdi, Puccini and Bizet, while this beautiful arena has also hosted sell-out appearances by Elton John, Simply Red and Pink Floyd.

Italy is a nation with a solid reputation for producing superb composers and performers, but a much smaller country has one of the most impressive reputations for open-air music festivals. In the face of weather that can be most diplomatically described as unreliable, Wales holds two massive annual Eisteddfodau or gatherings; the National, which features every aspect of Welsh culture and tradition and is held in a different town every year and, more relevantly, the International. This has been held in Llangollen, North Wales since its foundation in 1947 and has significantly helped to launch the careers of such singing stars as Luciano Pavarotti and Bryn Terfel, who now organises his own festival.

The Faenol Festival was launched by Terfel in 2000 and has quickly gained massive popularity. Traditionally taking place over the UK’s summer bank holiday in late August, it is one of the later open-air events. Situated on the Faenol Estate near Y Felinheli in North Wales. Featuring a variety of pop, rock, classical and Welsh acts, it is a festival for the 21st century, demolishing the old barriers that have, for decades, separated fans of raucous rock from the classical cognescenti.

Montreux Jazz Festival.

New post on at Thursday, 8 July, 2010, 9:31 am and is archived in Culture, Lifestyle. Subscribe to answers with RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.