Harnoncourt’s reflections on music have made him an international star, and these reflections have been used as criteria for selecting styriarte performers”. Harnoncourt is thus naturally omnipresent at styriarte, taking part in six performances of Mozart’s Idomeneo, among other things. This work, the festival’s focal point, will also be given in two concert versions, the first in Henry-Louis Spengel’s 19th-century arrangement for flutes and strings, the second in a wind band arrangement by J. N. Wendt.

A total of 36 innovative programmes will be heard in 45 performances during the month-long festival. Offerings range from opera to concerts to readings on Idomeneo and the music of ancient Greece and the works of Boulez and Messiean. 4 July’s concert is typically eclectic: “Bachianas”, presented by Rudi Leopold & Friends, is a “musical journey for 6 to 12 cellos, from Bach to Villa-Lobos, with stopovers at Schubert, Wagner, Debussy, Ravel and de Falla”.

The season includes a number of performances focussing on early music: on 3 July the baroque ensemble Zefiro will give “Wassermusik” (Handel’s Water Music, Telemann’s, Hamburger Ebb’ und Fluth and Vivaldi’s La tempesta di mare), while Musica ad Rhenum will play Telemann’s Pyrmonter Kurwoche and Bach’s 5th Brandenburg Concerto on 6 July in a programme entitled “Bach auf Kur”. Mozart’s music of course occupies an important place in the festival. Along with the many events centring on Idomeneo, pianist Pierre-Laurent Aimard and the Chamber Orchestra of Europe will present Mozart’s piano concertos K 488 in A and K 537 in D on 28 and 29 June, while Harnoncourt conducts Vesperae de Dominica, K 321, Offertorium de venerabili sacramento, K 260 and the Coronation Mass, K 317, on 4, 6 and 13 July.

On the 24th, Montserrat Figueras and Jordi Savall’s “Armada” programme will feature music of the English fleet’s victory over the Spanish Armada in 1588, English music from the Elizabethan Age (Byrd, Dowland, Gibbons, Tye and others), and Spanish music from the age of Philippe II (Ortiz, Guerriero, Cabézon, Vasquez and others). And on 27 July, Rudolf Leopold & Friends will play music by Vivaldi, Albinoni, Galuppi, Caldara and Legrenzi in their “Grand Canal” programme. www.styriarte.com.