The Georg Solti Accademia di Bel Canto offers a unique training opportunity for young opera singers at the start of their careers. Created in 2004 in memory of the great Hungarian conductor Sir Georg Solti, the annual three-week summer course takes place in the Tuscan seaside town of Castiglione della Pescaia where the Solti family still have their summer home. Places are offered to twelve outstanding international students, who are invited to immerse themselves in the language and culture of Italy while devoting focused time to mastering the art of bel canto, and benefiting from master classes given by leading opera singers and vocal coaches. The Italian vocal tradition, if properly learnt, gives singers an invaluable and sustainable technique and full access to the great repertoire works. Not all students have specialist and idiomatic training in this tradition at colleges and conservatoires.
A key part of our work is the Solti Peretti Repetiteur’s Masterclasses held each Easter, offering a bespoke course for outstanding young pianists to develop the many skills required of a repetiteur, in collaboration with a world-class faculty and talented young singers.