Edinburgh Festival: Benedetti asks the question

The theme of this summer’s Ed Fest,curated for the first time by Nicola Benedetti, will be ‘where do we go from here?’. It seems exceptionally timely, given the state of Scottish politics and the general retreat from arts funding in the UK.

The substance of the festival is mostly unchanged, There will be residencies from the Budapest Festival Orchestra and the LSO, some interesting visiting ensembles and some cool-looking imported opera.

The one flaw is the presence of the Venezuela regime’s propaganda orchestra, condcuted by Dudamel and Payare. This looks like a judgement call, and a wrong one.

Here are the highlights, as put out by the festival office:

(UPDATE: First responses here.)

• Two exceptional programmes from powerhouse dance company, Alvin Ailey American Dance
Theater. The performances showcase recent works from the company’s dynamic choreographers
as well as classic repertoire by founder, Alvin Ailey, including one piece featuring local Scottish
dancers alongside the professional company.
• An exciting new series in The Hub, the International Festival’s home on the Royal Mile. In a first for
the International Festival, the space will be taken over by afternoon and evening informal events
and concerts that speak directly to the 2023 Festival’s themes. Performers include: Palestinian
singer Nai Barghouti, Scottish violinist Catriona Price, the Aga Khan Master Musicians
celebrating music from the Silk Road trade route and a special Festival commission inspired by
Martin Luther King Jr’s visionary final speech, from Detroit-born bassist and house musician of The
Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Endea Owens.
• The Budapest Festival Orchestra, led by conductor Iván Fischer, in residence at the International
Festival across four captivating concerts. A highlight performance will be Dvořák’s Eighth Symphony
presented in an informal performance in the round, with the audience seated on beanbags,
scattered amongst the orchestra. The concerts also include an all-Hungarian programme of works
with Sir András Schiff and the NYCOS National Girls Choir, Weber and Mendelssohn, a concert
celebrating three 19th-century Romantics and an in-conversation between Fischer and Nicola
Benedetti exploring orchestras of the future and the orchestra’s ongoing commitment to community.
• Three UK premieres from genre-defining stars of international theatre: Barrie Kosky’s The
Threepenny Opera from the Berliner Ensemble, Brazilian film and theatre director Christiane
Jatahy’s Dusk, based on Lars Von Trier’s Dogville, and Tiago Rodrigues’ As Far As
Impossible, recounting the everyday lives of humanitarian workers in war zones.
• One of Latin America’s greatest orchestras, the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra of
Venezuela, in residence at the International Festival. Bringing its famed young ensemble of players
aged 18-25, they are joined by conductors Gustavo Dudamel and Rafael Payare for a series of
performances, including music from across the Americas and Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony.
• An epic new production of Pina Bausch’s acclaimed choreography of Stravinsky’s The Rite of
Spring, with a cast of over 30 dancers from 14 African countries, presented in a double bill with duet
common ground[s] from Germaine Acogny and Malou Airaudo.
• The London Symphony Orchestra in residence, comprising a programme centered around hope:
a concert of choral works from Szymanowski and Brahms; a cinematic programme featuring
Principal Guest Conductor Gianandrea Noseda, Messiaen’s sensational Turangalîla Symphony;
and an intimate insight into the musical world of the London Symphony Orchestra, presented with

an on-stage conversation from Nicola Benedetti and Sir Simon Rattle.
• The most substantial programme of Korean artists in the International Festival’s 76-year history, in
celebration of 140 years of diplomatic relations between Korea and the UK. Performances include
the KBS Symphony Orchestra in their first UK appearance; International Festival debuts from
multi-award-winning performers, pianist Yeol Eum Son and violinist Clara-Jumi Kang; first prize
winners of the International Mozart Competition, the Novus String Quartet; and a fusion of ancient
Korean storytelling, K-pop and Greek tragedy in Trojan Women by the National Changgeuk
Company of Korea. Trojan Women features original music by K-pop producer and Parasite and
Squid Game composer Jung Jae-il, in collaboration with renowned pansori master Ahn Sook-sun.
• Immersive works The Lost Lending Library from Punchdrunk Enrichment, welcoming young
people aged 6-11 (and their parents or carers) into a magical traveling library; and FOOD, an
enchantingly absurd dinner party from New York City-based theatre-maker Geoff Sobelle. The
uniquely Scottish play, the National Theatre of Scotland’s Thrown, from writer Nat McCleary under
director Johnny McKnight comes to the Festival as part of its world premiere season, and all three
productions will run for the entire duration of the Festival.
• Operatic works including a concert performance of Tannhäuser, the only major Wagner opera that
has not been performed at the International Festival. Wagner expert and Edinburgh local Sir
Donald Runnicles conducts the Deutsche Oper Berlin, featuring American tenor Clay Hilley
making his role debut as Tannhäuser; Mozart’s enchanting masterpiece The Magic Flute
performed in concert by the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and Chorus; and a radical retelling of
Bartók’s Bluebeard’s Castle presented by Theatre of Sound, reimagining the relationship
between Bluebeard and Judith as a husband and wife facing the reality of living with dementia whilst
celebrating their long love.
• A contemporary dance programme featuring Phaedra/Minotaur, a sensational double bill from
opera and theatre director Deborah Warner and choreographer Kim Brandstrup, with Benjamin
Britten’s stirring final cantata Phaedra, and the return of maverick duo Sharon Eyal and Gai
Behar’s acclaimed L-E-V, with the final installation of their acclaimed Love Cycle Trilogy, Chapter
3: The Brutal Journey of the Heart.
• Ogresse, a new musical journey of myth and song from three-time Grammy Award-winner Cécile
McLorin Salvant. Cécile also performs in the Usher Hall for a special concert fusing jazz with blues,
theatre and storytelling.
• World-leading orchestras are center stage in Edinburgh’s Usher Hall, including: the Oslo
Philharmonic Orchestra, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, BBC
Scottish Symphony Orchestra and the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and Chorus with a concert
performance of The Magic Flute, featuring a newly commissioned narration read by Thomas
Quasthoff.
• A contemporary music programme featuring electro-pop icon Alison Goldfrapp; sitar virtuoso
Anoushka Shankar; founding member of The Velvet Underground, John Cale; indie chart-topper
Jake Bugg; Japanese folk artist Ichiko Aoba; award-winning Irish neo-folk group Lankum;
Grammy Award-winning bluegrass band Nickel Creek; and experimental electronic icon Matthew
Herbert.

• Intimate morning recitals at The Queen’s Hall featuring pianists Mao Fujita, Leif Ove Andsnes and
Bertrand Chamayou; vocal recitals from singers including Julia Bullock with pianist Bretton
Brown, Iestyn Davies, Catriona Morison; and chamber music from the Isidore String Quartet,
the Amatis Trio, Jupiter Ensemble and more.