Also this year at the Sant'Agostino complex overlooking the splendid Piazza del Duomo, in the heart of the historic center of Pietrasanta, the international chamber music festival Pietrasanta in Concerto will be held, under the artistic direction of Michael Guttman, violinist and world-famous Belgian conductor, creator of the festival that attracts spectators from all over Italy due to his exceptional guests. Pietrasanta in Concerto since 2006 is now a fixed and unmissable event for the Versilian summer and every year they are called names of the international classical music scene, who with their presence contribute to giving prestige to our beautiful town.
Michael Guttman (1957) was born in Brussels and since childhood he devoted himself to the study of the violin, encouraged by his mother Simone Guttman, also a musician. His extraordinary talent allowed him to be admitted, at the age of only ten, to the Royal Conservatory in Brussels, making him the youngest musician ever admitted to the school. At seventeen he will enter the prestigious Juilliard School in New York, the most important conservatory in the world, under the guidance of Dorothy DeLay, Felix Galimir and the Juilliard Quartet. From 1988 he will start performing in numerous recitals in New York, studying and working very important composers and musicians of the caliber of Boris Goldstein, Zakhar Born, Noam Sheriff. During his career, Guttman will be awarded with important prizes and honors, including the Scopus Prize of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, in 2014, obtained for his remarkable musical career. Guttman will also be nominated for a Grammy Award for his album dedicated to composer Paul Hindemith, recorded with the Philharmonia Orchestra. Michael Guttman is known for being the artistic director of numerous music festivals around the world: in addition to Pietrasanta in Concerto we mention Le Printemps du Violin, which takes place in March in Paris, and the Made in Polin review in Versavia. He is also the conductor of the Napa Valley Symphony and the Belgian Chamber Orchestra.
And it is precisely to the Agenzia Immobiliare Pietrasanta that Maestro Guttman turned to buy a house in our beloved Pietrasanta to which he has now been linked for 15 years and of which he became an honorary citizen in 2014, for having introduced such a prestigious festival in our territory. which made the city known not only for the promotion of art but also of classical music.
Once again, the Festival proposes a show of absolute prestige: the musical events will begin on July 22nd and end on July 30th, and every evening, at 9:30 pm, the cloister of Sant’Agostino will come alive with a different program. Michael Guttmann has decided to dedicate 2022 to the violin, as can be read in the poster of the Festival, offering seven concerts by internationally known and emerging violinists, including young musicians. Here is the complete program:
22/07 - Renaud Capuçon
07/23 - Maxim Vengerov
24/07 - Salvatore Accardo & Laura Gorna
07/25 - Michael Guttman
07/26 - Asi Matathias
29/07 - Marc Bouchkov & Aleksey Semenenko
07/30 - Pavel Vernikov & Svetlana Makarova
Beacause of the tragic events that have upset Ukraine in the last period, the Festival stands as a moment of union, taking the side of freedom and democracy having always hosted both Ukrainian and Russian artists, promoting a beautiful message of alliance, courage and respect for others.
