The Bayreuth Baroque Opera Festival was honored in the „Best Festival” category at the Oper! Awards 2024 on January 29. Dr. Clemens Lukas, executive director, and Georg Lang, creative producer of Bayreuth Baroque, accepted the award in Amsterdam.
The jury’s reasoning stated: „The fact that Max Emanuel Cencic has taken over the artistic direction is a stroke of luck for the still young festival. Baroque opera is rarely experienced with such wit, entertainment, virtuosity, and vital connection to the present as it is here.”
„I am full of gratitude and joy for this award, which has honored our still young but ambitious festival,” said artistic director Max Emanuel Cencic, who thanked the jury via video message.
This award is of enormous importance to us because it underscores the vitality and innovative spirit of our festival.
Dr. Clemens Lukas added: „We are particularly thrilled that Bayreuth Baroque has already gained so much international recognition in its fifth year of existence.” Bayreuth Baroque was already nominated last year for the International Opera Awards in the category „Best Festival 2023”. Forum Opéra awarded Alessandro nell’Indie in 2022 and Carlo il Calco in 2020 as the „Best New Production.”
The 2024 festival edition from September 5th to 15th will again feature two staged opera productions: Nicola Antonio Porpora’s Ifigenia in Aulide will be rediscovered in a new staging by artistic director Max Emanuel Cencic after almost 300 years (September 5th, 7th, 13th and 15th). Additionally, Antonio Vivaldi’s Orlando Furioso is the first international co-production with the Teatro Comunale di Ferrara to be staged at the Margravial Opera House (September 10th and 11th).
Numerous other events, including seven concerts, will explore the baroque Bayreuth at multiple venues. Two top international Baroque ensembles, Les Talens Lyriques under Christophe Rousset and Il Pomo d’Oro under Francesco Corti, will also accompany the 2024 festival. Also featured are female stars of the Baroque scene such as Anna Prohaska, Sandrine Piau, Nuria Rial, as well as countertenor and breakdancer Jakub Józef Orliński.
