Costa Smeralda® Classical Music Festival 2026: Great Music Returns to Porto Cervo

Four evenings of classical music from September 5 to 11, featuring internationally renowned artists and the Antonio Vivaldi Orchestra of Venice

There comes a moment in Porto Cervo when the rhythm of summer changes. The days still retain the clear light of September, the sea regains an almost absolute calm, and the northeastern coast reveals its most intimate side. It is against this backdrop that the Costa Smeralda® Classical Music Festival symbolically brings the season to a close, transforming the Conference Center at the Cervo Hotel into a gathering place for internationally renowned performers and an audience from all over Europe.

Conceived and artistically directed by the Venetian violinist and violist Guglielmo De Stasio—who is also its co-founder—and with the support of the Costa Smeralda® Consortium, the festival has forged a distinct identity over the years. It does not merely present high-caliber concerts but cultivates a cultural initiative rooted in the convergence of leading figures on the world stage, Italian artistic excellence, and new generations of musicians. This approach has brought artists such as Martha Argerich, Misha Maisky, Ivo Pogorelich, Louis Lortie, Anna Tifu, Sergej Nakariakov, Roman Kim, and the Berlin Philharmonic Quintet—among many others—to the stage. The 2026 edition continues this tradition, featuring four evenings, from September 5 to 11, all beginning at 9:30 p.m., accompanied by the Antonio Vivaldi Orchestra of Venice—a permanent fixture of the festival—led by concertmaster Guglielmo De Stasio.

Yamandu Costa

The orchestra serves as the common thread throughout the entire festival, capable of adapting to a wide variety of repertoires, instruments, and artistic personalities, while consistently maintaining a high standard of performance. The opening night on September 5 features Yamandu Costa, one of the most extraordinary contemporary guitarists. Born in southern Brazil into a family of musicians, Costa has developed a personal style that blends folk tradition, virtuosity, and classical composition. Accompanied by the Antonio Vivaldi Orchestra, he will present his famous Concerto for Guitar and Orchestra along with other compositions inspired by the sounds of Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay, opening the festival with a repertoire that pushes the boundaries of classical music without compromising the rigor of the composition.

On September 7, the festival pays tribute to Italian excellence with violist Danilo Rossi, a leading figure in European musical life. Chosen by Riccardo Muti at just twenty years old as Principal Viola of La Scala and the La Scala Philharmonic, Rossi has collaborated with conductors such as Claudio Abbado, Daniel Barenboim, and Leonard Bernstein, while simultaneously pursuing a path that has also led him toward jazz, contemporary music, and social projects. The program pairs Hoffmeister’s Viola Concerto with Stefano Nanni’s Beatles Suite, demonstrating how the classical repertoire can engage with different musical languages without losing its authority.

Gianfranco Bortolato

On September 9, the spotlight will turn to oboist Gianfranco Bortolato, principal oboe of the Rome Opera House and one of Italy’s most acclaimed oboists. His career has seen him collaborate with some of Europe’s leading musical institutions, from La Scala to the Accademia di Santa Cecilia, as well as major international festivals. The evening will be dedicated to the great Venetian Baroque, featuring works by Vivaldi, Marcello, and Albinoni, allowing the audience to experience the extraordinary richness of a musical tradition that Venice itself helped make universal.

Gustav Kuhn

The festival will conclude on September 11 with one of the leading figures in European orchestral conducting, Gustav Kuhn. A student and assistant to Herbert von Karajan, and a leading figure for decades at the world’s major opera houses—from London’s Royal Opera House to Tokyo’s Suntory Hall—Kuhn will bring two masterpieces of the symphonic repertoire to Porto Cervo: Schubert’s *Death and the Maiden* and Mozart’s monumental *Jupiter Symphony*. A finale entrusted to a conductor who has linked his name to the great Central European tradition and who continues to this day to dedicate himself to training new generations of musicians.

The value of the Classical Music Festival Costa Smeralda® also lies in the setting that hosts it. In September, Porto Cervo takes on a more intimate atmosphere, far from the crowds of the high season. The music thus blends into a landscape that invites listening, transforming the stay into an experience that combines beauty, culture, and warm hospitality.