Still time to catch some of the summer’s best European arts festivals

Detail from: “Greece in Gratitude” (1858) – Theodoros Vryzakis (1819-1878)

Image by Tilemahos Efthimiadis

Still time to catch some of the summer’s best European arts festivals

Summer is traditionally the time of year when cultural calendars are at their busiest, and your favourite Art Guide is full to bursting point with unmissable events.

While the English summer is slowly drawing to an end, other European countries continue to be bathed in sunshine, with a whole host of cultural and artistic events still to come before the clocks go back.

If you haven’t yet managed to get away for a summer break, now is the perfect opportunity to soak up those last rays of late-summer sun and take in some of the wonderful and diverse cultural events that Europe has to offer. Here are just a few of the events that lie in store over the next couple of months.

Schwarzenberg in Austria hosts a major chamber music festival from 27 August-12 September, attracting some of the world’s leading artists. Bernarda Fink, Ian Bostridge, Magdalena Kozena and Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau all appear at this year’s edition, which will take place at the purpose-built Angelika Kauffmann Hall.

Opera lovers should head to Verona in Italy, where the world-renowned Arena festival is well under way. Running until 29 August, this year’s event features a guest performance by veteran performer Maria Guleghina, in Franco Zeffirelli’s Turandot. Festival-goers will also be treated to performances of Madama Butterfly and Carmen, among others.

Greece’s Athens and Epidauros festival, running until 12 September, offers a spectacular celebration of contemporary and classical arts. This year’s edition features a new Greek staging of the opera Parsifal, as well as a French version of A Streetcar Named Desire and a performance by the New York City Ballet.

Opera-lovers in for a treat if they make the journey to Bayreuth in Germany, where the legendary Wagner opera festival runs until 28 August. The event, organised by Wagner’s two great-granddaughters, features a performance of Lohengrin, as well as Parsifal, starring bright young opera talent Christopher Ventris.

Finally, Lucerne in Switzerland hosts one of the world’s greatest classical music festivals, with a programme that stretches until 18 September. The festival is a who’s who of classical musicians, with conductors Claudio Abbado and Simon Rattle, violinists Frank Peter Zimmermann and Anne-Sophie Mutter and pianists András Schiff and Helene Grimaud all featuring. Vienna Philharmonic and San Francisco Symphony orchestra also appear in what is sure to be a fantastic event, set to the backdrop of Lucerne’s beautiful lakes and mountains.

(Ancient) Children’s games

Image by Tilemahos Efthimiadis