Biennale Musica 2019 explores Europe's musical past and future in Venice

The 2019 Biennale Musica in Venice, directed by Ivan Fedele, presented a comprehensive survey of contemporary European music, emphasizing dialogue with the past and technological innovation. The festival featured numerous Italian premieres, aiming to update local audiences on developments beyond the Alps rather than serving as an international avant-garde showcase. Highlights included the Silver Lion award to Matteo Franceschini (aka Tovel) for his Songbook, blending rock with contemporary and electronic music, and the premiere of Gianvincenzo Cresta's De l'infinito, paired with Monteverdi's Messa In illo tempore by Ensemble Spirito di Lione. Georges Aperghis's Thinking Things (2017) explored a hyper-technological future with robots and irony, performed by four vocalists. The Atlas Ensemble, with cellist Jean-Guihen Queyras, performed Joël Bons's Nomaden using instruments from Central Asian and Far Eastern traditions. The festival closed with four micro-operas from Biennale College, including Nuno Costa's La meccanica del colore and Marco Benetti and Fabrizio Funari's Tredici Secondi. The new Centro di Informatica Musicale e Multimediale (CIMM) supported electronic works, with a related exhibition Electro at Mestre until November 10. The festival also included a concert by Dengue Dengue Dengue and Populous at Argo 16 in Marghera.