Many of my most memorable musical experiences have been at festivals, and I use the word ‘experience’ to mean much more than the performance itself. Events in your usual concert hall can be remarkable, powerful and profound. But then you emerge out into the familiar city streets, where Mahlerian or Mozartian greatness soon dissipates into the crush of crowds and the chaos of traffic.

At a festival however, a profound musical experience is often further enriched by being in a new place, one you may have travelled a long distance to, where the air is rich with the scent of unfamiliar flora, the dusk a different hue to home. With a newly alert mind 
we might hear a familiar work in a different way.

Often, of course, we might hear something we’ve never heard before: that’s a specialism of festivals. Creatively curated around a theme, they are often the fascinating reflection of an artistic director’s own enthusiasms or discoveries. They can also bring an intense period of music-making to places where, for the rest of the year, you may not find it – and with it, therefore, a vivid sense of local pride. I’d be delighted if our Summer Festival guide encouraged you to plan a trip to somewhere – place and repertoire – unfamiliar, whether dramatic mountain top, tranquil village or energising inner city.

Many festivals will be celebrating the music of this year’s anniversary composers, among them Wagner – as indeed are we with this issue. His greatest roles are among opera’s greatest roles, and we’ve talked to some of today’s greatest interpreters about performing them. 
I hope our feature will enrich your enjoyment 
of hearing Wagner’s music this year – perhaps at a festival, be it in Bayreuth, or Bucharest, or by the banks of the Thames.

martin.cullingford@haymarket.com