April 14, 2025

What to do this week in Florence and surroundings

Events, exhibitions and highlights from from 14 to 21 April, 2025

Art, concerts, shows and good food. Here are the events not to be missed this week in and around Florence.

Wisteria blooming at Villa Bardini

More than half of the wisteria adorning the famous pergola at the Bardini Garden in Florence is already in bloom. The long-awaited spectacle of the bloom, framed by the view of the city's monuments, will reach its peak just this week. Once again this year, Villa Bardini's majestic pergola - 70 meters long and 4.6 meters wide - has been transformed into an enchanting tunnel of colors, fading from lilac to violet, from mauve blue to pink. These are the days to mark on your calendar to admire this masterpiece of nature and, at the same time, you can also take this opportunity to see the exhibition Caravaggio and the Twentieth Century. Roberto Longhi, Anna Banti at Villa Bardini.

Salome at the Maggio Musicale Theater

The 87th Maggio Musicale Fiorentino Festival kicked off with Salome, on stage through April 27 with a new staging of Richard Strauss's Salome, his first operatic masterpiece that established him in the theatrical field: on the podium Alexander Soddy directed by Emma Dante. Find out the entire Festival program here.

Fabrizio De André's La Buona Novella with Neri Marcorè at Teatro della Pergola

From Tuesday, April 15 to Thursday, April 17, at Teatro della Pergola, Neri Marcorè returns to try his hand at Fabrizio De André in the song-theater show, written and directed by Giorgio Gallione, that brings the album La buona novella to life in the theater.

Guanti Bianchi by Edoardo Erba with Paolo Triestino at the Teatro della Pergola

On Tuesday, April 15 and Wednesday, April 16, in the Saloncino 'Paolo Poli' at Teatro della Pergola, Paolo Triestino is Antonio, a transporter of works of art who is the protagonist of Guanti bianchi, by Edoardo Erba, inspired by Paola Guagliumi's book L'arte spiegata ai truzzi.

Negrita at Teatro Cartiere Carrara

“Negrita - Canzoni Per anni spietati tour” on Tuesday, April 15, makes a stop at Teatro Cartiere Carrara. Alongside the great songs that have punctuated their three-decade career, the tour is an opportunity for the band to offer live performances of songs from Canzoni Per Anni Spietati, the new album. The long-awaited concept album represents a true act of creative freedom and thought and comes six years after their last studio work.

Orchestra Toscana Classica in concert at the Santo Stefano al Ponte Auditorium

Monday, April 14 at the Santo Stefano al Ponte Auditorium with the Orchestra di Toscana Classica conducted by Alessio Casinovi. The program draws, for the most part, from late 19th century Romanticism, with pages by Antonín Dvořák (“Nocturne in B Major, Op. 40”), Pietro Mascagni (Intermezzo from “Cavalleria Rusticana”), Giacomo Puccini (“Crisantemi”) and Carl Maria von Weber (“Quintet for Clarinet and Strings Op.34”). Beginning at 9 p.m. Tickets 20/15 euros. Information and reservations can be made by contacting the Orchestra secretariat, tel. 055.783374 - 333 7883225 also via whatsapp.

Vado a vivere con me, Jonathan Canini's show at Puccini Theatre

On Monday, April 14, Tuesday, April 22 and Thursday, May 22, at 9 p.m., Jonathan Canini stars in the show Vado a vivere con me, written by Jonathan Canini and directed by Walter Santillo, at the Puccini Theater.

Easter Concert with Gemma New at Teatro Verdi

On Thursday, April 17, at 9 p.m., the Orchestra della Toscana's Easter Concert arrives at Teatro Verdi. Opening the program is the Stabat Mater, a liturgical sequence set to music by Giovanni Battista Pergolesi that will be interpreted by two outstanding Florentine singers: soprano Eleonora Bellocci, who trained at the Accademia del Maggio, and countertenor Filippo Mineccia, recently applauded at La Scala and a collaborator of Riccardo Muti. On the podium is New Zealand conductor Gemma New, who boasts a rich international career. Franz Joseph Haydn's Symphony No. 104, “Salomon,” the last in his catalog, closes the program. Majestic yet welcoming, it was his farewell tribute to London.

Vorrei una voce with Tindaro Granata and the songs of Mina at the Rifredi Theater

On Tuesday, April 15 and Wednesday, April 16, at 9 p.m., Tindaro Granata stars in the show Vorrei una voce with the songs of Mina at the Teatro di Rifredi.

Only Maurizio Battista at the Cartiere Carrara Theater

For the past few days he has been in theaters with the film Tu Quoque, in which he stars. But Maurizio Battista does not lose direct contact with his audience: the triumphant Only Maurizio tour brings him back on Friday, April 11, to the stage of the Cartiere Carrara Theater, for yet another crowd bath and full of laughter.

Luca Ward at the Puccini Theater

On Tuesday, April 15, at 9 p.m., Luca Ward stars in the show The Talent of Being All and None at the Puccini Theater.

O Flos Colende, sacred music in the Cathedral

May 6 7 p.m., free admission. Accompanying the biblical reflections will be musical groups: Cappella Musicale della Basilica di San Lorenzo in Florence (April 3) and Cappella Musicale della Cattedrale di S. Maria del Fiore (May 6). And again on May 22, 9 p.m., The King's Singers, free admission. For the first time, the renowned vocal group The King's Singers will perform in Florence Cathedral. After the triumphant concert held at the Teatro della Pergola in 2021, the all-male vocal group returns to Florence with the evocative program Peregrinación - Music from the New World, a very recent conception and premiere for Italy, dedicated to the rediscovery of genre music, mainly sacred, in use among the native South American peoples and the subsequent evolution that occurred with the arrival of the Iberian conquistadors.

Brevissime, new art history lectures kick off at Uffizi Auditorium

The Uffizi Galleries is hosting, for the second time, from March 6 to May 29 at 6:45 p.m. in the Antonio Paolucci Auditorium the Brevissime.Lezioni di storia delle arti curated by Centro Di Edizioni, a cycle of 9 lectures entitled L'INSAZIABILE DESIDERIO. History and Stories of Collecting with the presence of important Italian and for the first time also foreign speakers, confirming the internationality of the project. Not to be missed on March 27 is a meeting with Thomas Edward Coke, eighth Earl of Leicester, who tells the story of his mansion, Holkham Hall, and his family's extraordinary art collection. On April 10, Will Gompertz talks about Sir John Soane and his connection to Italy. Lecture tickets can be purchased at www.brevissime.org. Full price ticket: 13€ and Ticket under 26: 5€.