REMA - Réseau Européen de Musique Ancienne

Festival Radovljica

Festival Radovljica was started in 1982 and is the oldest early music festival in Slovenia. It is based in Radovljica, a small city in northwestern Slovenia with an old centre that retains features of late gothic and renaissance architecture. The main concert venues are the recently renovated baroque hall in the Radovljica Mansion (230 seats) and the adjoining St. Peter’s Church. Additional concerts are held in the country’s capital Ljubljana and at the Annuntiation Church in Velesovo with its outstanding organ, built after Zacharias Hildebrand.

The festival is held every August and usually consists of ten concerts. The repertoire ranges from medieval music to contemporary works written for period instruments and often comissioned by the festival. The performers come from all over Europe. Most of them are renowned early music specialists, but one or two concerts are always reserved for outstanding young ensembles at the start of their careers. The festival has played an important role in the development of the Slovenian early music scene by encouraging the founding of new ensembles and performances of Slovenian music from 16th to 18th centuries. In 2010, the festival has again started offering accompanying courses and worshops, following a tradition broken twenty years ago.

In recent years the festival has hosted musicians and ensembles such as Emma Kirkby, Dominique Visse, John Potter, Pino De Vittorio, Benjamin Bagby, Gustav Leonhardt, Malcolm Bilson, Janusz Olejniczak, Manfredo Kraemer, Rolf Lislevand, Andrew Lawrence-King, Christophe Rousset, Ensemble Zefiro, Sonatori de la Gioiosa Marca, London Baroque, Gothic Voices, Sequentia, La Colombina, Les Talens Lyriques, Café Zimmermann, Mala Punica, Singer Pur, Trio Mediaeval, Ensemble Clément Janequin, Fretwork, The Harp Consort and Ricercar Consort.

Since 2007, the festival has been providing a free festival bus for visitors from Ljubljana and Kranj. Most concerts are recorded or broadcast live on Radio Slovenia and one concert every year is recorded by the Slovenian television. The festival is supported by the Municipality of Radovljica and the Slovenian Ministry of Culture.

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