Dates 28 Apr – 27 May 2017 | ||
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Location Schwetzingen Palace, Schwetzingen, Germany Similar Rheingau Musik Festival, Schleswig‑Holstein Musik Festival, Festspiele Mecklenburg‑Vorpommern, Ludwigsburg Festival, Donaueschingen Festival Profiles | ||
The Schwetzingen Festival (German: Schwetzinger Festspiele, now Schwetzinger SWR Festspiele) is an early summer festival of opera and other classical music presented each year from May to early June in Schwetzingen, Germany.
In 1952 the broadcaster Süddeutscher Rundfunk founded the festival in the Schwetzingen area. It is located in a beautiful 250-year-old palace and park, Schwetzingen Castle, near the famous city of Heidelberg. The main venue is the historic Schlosstheater Schwetzingen. Nowadays, the successor organization is the Südwestrundfunk (SWR) and it organises a large number of international concerts and music theatre events every year.
One of the festival's characteristics is the world premiere of a new opera, as well as at least one rediscovered opera from former centuries, performed on period instruments.
Concerts have featured well-known artists such as Gidon Kremer, Jorge Bolet and Cecilia Bartoli, as well as young artists at the start of their careers. Singers of the caliber of Barbara Hendricks, Fritz Wunderlich and Teresa Berganza have performed at the festival as beginners and have all gone on to major careers.