Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, what does it mean?

It is the puzzle of many, especially foreigners. But we will explain its meaning, or rather its meanings, which are 3

If you're not from Florence and you're a music lover, you're unlikely to know the triple meaning of 'Maggio Musicale Fiorentino', but we at Firenze Made in Tuscany have decided to explain it clearly, once and for all.

The name Maggio Musicale Fiorentino means three things at once:

1. The lyrical-symphonic institution of Florence, today a Foundation, which consists of an Orchestra and a Choir. This means that the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino is to Florence what La Scala Theatre is to Milan. The Maggio Musicale Fiorentino Orchestra and Choir, which was founded in 1928 by Maestro Vittorio Gui, was initially called Stabile Orchestrale Fiorentina, but then took on the definitive name we know today.

2. The Maggio Musicale Fiorentino Festival: one of the oldest Italian cultural festivals dedicated to music (from which the orchestra and then the institution took its name), thus a music festival of opera, symphonic music and dance, the oldest and most prestigious in Europe together with Bayreuth and Salzburg. Its date of birth is 1933.

3. The Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino: inaugurated in 2011, this is Florence's new opera house, a work of contemporary architecture that stands between the historic centre, the Stazione Leopolda and the Parco delle Cascine, the city's green lung.

So, from now on, every time you read or hear the words "We have witnessed a great performance by the Orchestra and Choir of the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino...", "Tomorrow the new opera house will be inaugurated..." or "Tomorrow the new opera house will be inaugurated. , "Tomorrow the 84th edition of the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino Festival opens....", "We meet at the entrance of the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino Theatre", well you know what it is about.