Events in Campania: Ravello, The Ravello Festival 2011

Each year the small town of Ravello on southern Italy’s Amalfi Coast becomes the “City of Music” when it hosts the renowned Ravello Festival. This music and performing arts festival attracts music lovers from all over the world to this pretty mountaintop town overlooking the stunning Amalfi Coast. Founded in 1953 as a music festival dedicated to the German composer Richard Wagner, the festival has developed over more than half of a century to encompass modern music, jazz, opera, theatre, dance, cultural events and art exhibitions.

However, the music of Richard Wagner always plays an important inspiration role in the events each year, in honour of the composer’s memorable visit to Ravello in 1880. Wagner was so struck by the beauty of the gardens at the Villa Rufolo that he used them as inspiration for his magical gardens of Klingsor in the opera Parsifal. Today, many of the concerts for the Ravello Festival take place in the same magical setting of the Villa Rufolo.

The notable events for 2011 include performances by Wynton Marsalis with the Jazz at the Lincoln Center Orchestra, Peppe Servillo, the New York City Ballet, Raphael Gualazzi, and a concert dedicated to Wagner with the Orchestra of the Teatro San Carlo in Naples directed by Michel Tabachnik. For more information on events, locations and ticket reservations, visit the Ravello Festival website.

How to Arrive
Ravello is located in the mountains along the famous Amalfi Coast and is accessible by car or bus.
By car: from Naples, drive south out of the Naples on the A3 freeway toward Salerno. Take the exit for Angri and follow signs for the Valico di Chiunzi / Costeria Amalfitana. Once over the pass, follow signs to Ravello. From the Amalfi Coast road (SS163), follow the signs at Castiglione and take the narrow, winding road up to Ravello.
By bus: public SITA buses regularly circulate between Amalfi (a transfer point), Ravello and Scala.