The 30th edition of Elba Isola Musicale d’Europa unfolds as a journey through the course of musical time: from the memory of the great masters of the past to a new commission conceived to mark this milestone.

The Festival opens with a tribute to the 400th anniversary of the birth of Louis Couperin (August 28), evoked by the harpsichord performance of Giulia Nuti. This is followed by the 200th anniversary of the death of Carl Maria von Weber (4 September), celebrated by Pierre Génisson and the Indaco Quartet with the famous Quintet for clarinet and strings op. 34; Benjamin Britten will be commemorated, on the 50th anniversary of his death, in the concert on September 8, with Giovanni Gnocchi and Alessandro Stella performing his Sonata for cello and piano.

Consistently attentive to the dialogue between memory and contemporaneity, the Festival combines its commemorative dimension with special projects and new perspectives on the repertoire: the return of French pianist Arielle Beck (August 31), recipient of the 2024 Elba Festival Prize, with the world premiere of her Four Temperaments for piano, a commission for the Festival’s 30th anniversary, alongside contemporary interpretations of masterpieces such as Bach’s Goldberg Variations in Dmitry Sitkovetsky’s transcription for string trio (5 September) and Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition in Jun Nagao’s arrangement for saxophone quartet and orchestra (September 12).