NEW ON WERGO – JULIUS BERGER AND THE ASIAGO-FESTIVAL

THE ASIAGO FESTIVAL – AN INSTITUTION IN NORTHERN ITALY

Every year in August, the Asiago Festival, which has been running for over 50 years now, takes place in northern Italy, in the heart of the Asiago Plateau.

The Asiago Plateau consists of seven municipalities (Italian: Altopiano dei Sette Comuni). It is particularly interesting from a historical and cultural point of view, as it is the smallest linguistic enclave in Europe. Only a few people still speak ‘Cimbrian’, a mixture of the Bavarian language from around the year 1000 and the Roman/Italian language.

CLASSICAL AND CONTEMPORARY MUSIC ON THE ASIAGO PLATEAU

The Asiago Festival is a week of great music, featuring artists of international caliber, world premieres and programs ranging from chamber music to organ repertoire, from cinema to contemporary music.

Every year, a composer is invited to the festival and asked to write a piece ‘for Asiago’. The composition should include ‘reminiscences’ of Asiago's history, such as melodies from Cimbrian culture.

JULIUS BERGER - THE ARTISTIC DIRECTOR OF THE ASIAGO FESTIVAL

It is impossible to imagine the music scene of the past 50 years without the presence of cellist Julius Berger. Born in Augsburg, Berger is a remarkable performer. He has enriched the music world in myriad ways as a performer, teacher, and thinker who explores ideas beyond the “beaten path”. He is internationally active as a soloist and chamber musician and has recorded over 75 CDs.

For many years, the cellist has been the artistic director of the Asiago Festival. Julius Berger took on this task directly from the festival's founder, Fiorella Benetti-Brazzale, a good friend of him. He brought a number of important musicians and composers to the town, located on a plateau in the southern foothills of the Alps.

More information: 

Asiago Festival (https://asiagofestival.it/) 

Asiago Duo Berger & Friends The new album “Asiago” by the creative soloist Julius Berger is a clever application and further development of a very pleasing, strong new trend in musical life: imaginative explorations of new repertoire fields by opening up new music to the vast areas of other cultures. In the case of the violoncello, this development seems almost provoked by its technical and traditional repertoire boundaries. Julius Berger demonstrates how – even in a landscape such as the Alps, which seems to be closely interwoven with classical music as the homeland of well-known traditional folk music history – a closer look can reveal highly exciting and completely different ethno-potentials. He has developed a well-rounded CD program of newly written music from the precious find of the small ethnic group of the Cimbri, who came from the north and settled in what is now northern Italy, centuries ago, and still live there today with their own language. Most of this music was first performed at the annual Asiago Festival, which has been existing for 25 years now, and in various combinations – solo, in duet, with prepared piano and with cello ensemble and chamber orchestra – he has created a large, suggestive and meditative new repertoire for the low string instrument.   View in Store