IL FESTIVAL DEI DUE MONDI

The 60th edition of the Spoleto Festival, originally way back in 1958 entitled the Festival dei Due Mondi, is starting.
But why that name? Because the founder of the event, the composer Gian Carlo Menotti who died in 2007, intended to unite two cultures and two different worlds: the European and the American.
But what is this Festival dei Due Mondi? It is an event that extols art in every form, from music to dance, theatre and painting in a fairytale setting to say the least: the historic centre of Spoleto where the hub of the festival, Piazza Duomo, serves as an open-air theatre.
As usual, it begins the last Friday of June, which this year coincides with the last day of the month, and concludes on Sunday, 16 July. Seventeen (17) days in which Spoleto becomes a city open to the entire world because from its inception this festival’s distinguishing feature has been internationality.
Among foreign artists performing this year is the Chinese company 11 Warriors made up of chosen dancers and athletes who manage to meld traditional Chinese dance with elements of Kung Fu. From Columbia there will be two groups offering traditional and popular Columbian music.
And naturally, there will also be great Italian artists who will make July nights in Spoleto special: the 13th, Fiorella Mannoia’s concert takes place and the 15th, Roberto Bolle performs. The event will offer its public the first appearance of Maestro Riccardo Muti at the festival: he will direct the orchestra Giovanile Luigi Cherubini (the Luigi Cherubini youth orchestra) that he founded in 2004 and made up of 600 instrumentalists coming from every Italian region.
For further information www.festivaldispoleto.com