Have Violin, Will Travel

Now’s the time to book your musical holiday, says Pippa Cuckson

LONDON is often described as the global hub of classical music, but dip your toe in the overseas concert scene and you’ll soon appreciate there are multiple networks of virtuoso performers who British concertgoers will never have the opportunity to hear unless we travel abroad to them.

Three or four days at an international festival is a good start and need not cost a fortune. Venues off the beaten track are often more rewarding than the human crush and eye-watering prices of headlining events such as Verbier, Salzburg, Strasbourg and Lucerne and they attract the same artists.

For globe-trotting musicians, festivals provide a welcome break from airport lounges: several engagements in one place and a relaxed, holiday atmosphere tend to foster music-making of the highest calibre. It also provides a rare chance to play chamber music with colleagues; unsurprisingly, the festival circuit now accounts for about 50% of a top soloist’s schedule.

The Russian Grigory Sokolov, arguably the greatest living pianist, has long declined to perform in Britain, but the fledgling Malta International Music Festival in Valletta has already played host to him twice in six years.

Maltese concerts tend to run for 90 minutes without an interval, giving lie to the need for comfort breaks. This also leaves ample time for an alfresco supper along the charming walk back to the taxi rank by the Triton fountain —hotels close to Valletta’s Mediterranean Conference Centre concert venue fill fast.

This spring’s artists include Bolshoi diva Anna Aglatova and 17-year-old violinist Katya Tsuka-nova, who established a big international career when still doing her GCSEs at Wycombe Abbey.