Barattelli Concert Season

Eighty years of music in the heart of L'Aquila

The Società Aquilana dei Concerti "Bonaventura Barattelli" is the oldest concert institution in Abruzzo and one of the longest-running in Italy. Founded in 1946, its Concert Season has for decades been the premier event for classical and chamber music in the regional capital, hosting some of the most celebrated performers on the national and international stage.

A world-class program

The series spans the entire autumn-winter-spring season, from October to April, with a dense calendar of concerts held mainly on Sundays. The two main venues are the intimate Ridotto del Teatro Comunale and the modern Auditorium del Parco, the wooden structure designed by Renzo Piano that has become a symbol of the city's cultural rebirth following the 2009 earthquake.

The program explores a wide range of genres and repertoires:

• Classical and chamber symphonic music, featuring world-class soloists and ensembles;
• Chamber music, the historical core of the Barattelli programming;
• Early music and Baroque repertoire;
• Jazz, with forays into contemporary styles.

Great performers in L'Aquila

Throughout its seasons, the Barattelli has hosted and continues to host top-tier names: cellists such as Mario Brunello and Giovanni Sollima, pianists like Beatrice Rana, Andrea Lucchesini, Pietro De Maria, and Nikolai Lugansky, violinist Francesca Dego, conductor Antonio Pappano, and chamber ensembles like the Gringolts Quartet, not to mention jazz legends like drummer Roberto Gatto.

A cultural heritage of L'Aquila and Abruzzo

With its historic headquarters at Palazzo Di Paola on Corso Vittorio Emanuele II, the Società Barattelli is much more than a concert series: it is a cultural pillar that has accompanied the city's musical life through decades of history, including the challenging years of post-earthquake reconstruction. Its activities place it at the center of the cultural life of the Province of L'Aquila and the entire Abruzzo region, helping to establish L'Aquila as a capital of classical music in Central Italy.