VCR | Venice Classic Radio Italy

In 2025, the association Barocco Europeo celebrates an important milestone: its 25 years of activity. Founded in Sacile in 2000, the association promotes the heritage of early and baroque music with an approach that is both rigorous and innovative. A member of the international network REMA - Early Music in Europe, the association led by Donatella Busetto has built over time a cultural project recognised at an international level, combining research, artistic production and a strong focus on younger generations.

The core of the toBE 2025 season is the new three-year project 'Danube, a bridge between cultures and civilisations', conceived in connection with the nomination of Gorizia as European Capital of Culture. Starting from Gorizia, the itinerary reaches Slovenia, birthplace of Giuseppe Tartini, and ideally Belgrade, following the course of the Danube, before proceeding in the coming years towards Budapest and Vienna. The result is a modular and interdisciplinary journey in which music dialogues with theatre, cinema and education through workshops, concerts and projects dedicated to young audiences.

This eighteenth edition of the festival features Alessandro Scarlatti, marking the 300th anniversary of his death. A trilogy of concerts titled Tu resti, o mio bel lume, focused on his cantatas for bass, is entrusted to baritone Patrizio La Placa and the ensemble Cenacolo Musicale. Alongside this central theme, the programme includes the cycle Baroque Beyond Borders, exploring the links between Italy and Central Europe, and the Femart Early Music and Art Festival, which opens in Polcenigo with the cycle The Bach Cantatas performed by the Choir of Friuli Venezia Giulia and the Pordenone Chamber Orchestra.

A major novelty for 2025 is the transformation of the Not&Sapori series into Lettur&Note - The Arts in a Glass, which brings together music, literature and wine culture in collaboration with the Italian Historic Houses Association - Friuli Venezia Giulia section. Three events will explore, through words and music, emblematic figures of European literature: William Shakespeare, Giacomo Casanova and Jane Austen, hosted in charming venues such as Palazzo Scolari in Polcenigo and the historic residence La Brunelde in Fagagna.

The concert programme is accompanied by educational projects, a long-standing hallmark of Barocco Europeo. These include Opera Futura, a theatre-dance workshop for primary schools which in 2025 will stage the performance The Fantastic Journey of Mr. Water, and the videomaking course in collaboration with Cinemazero, which introduces young people to audiovisual language as a tool for narrating music. Throughout the year, the association will also promote an international vocal competition that will lead to the 2026 production of a new baroque comic opera, following the recent focus on intermezzi and buffa works.

The work of Barocco Europeo is also intertwined with the cultural sector through the Art Bonus initiative: the association has been admitted to the competition promoted by the Italian Ministry of Culture, a recognition that enhances the value of its 25-year commitment and invites companies and citizens to support the heritage of early music. An invitation “to BE”, to be part of it, summarising the association’s mission: keeping baroque music alive as a place of encounter between memories, languages and contemporary sensibilities.

G. F. Handel – ‘Aci, Galatea e Polifemo’