Four of Europe’s most enjoyable classical music festivals

Leave the umbrella at home and ditch Glyndebourne for great music in sunnier climes, says Annabelle Thorpe in The Times

Festival Puccini Italy Puccini was born in the Tuscan city of Lucca, and kept a summer house in the nearby town of Torre del Lago, next to Lake Massaciuccoli – an area he called “paradise”. This summer, the festival held there in his memory for the past 63 years runs from 14 July to 19 August. Performances take place in a vast outdoor theatre, seating more than 3,400 people, that opens out onto the lake, and the programme includes stagings of Madame Butterfly, Turandot and Tosca (www.puccinifestival.it).

Bregenzer Festspiele Austria Founded in 1946, this festival is famed for its opera stage, which appears to float on the waters of Lake Constance before a 7,000-seat amphitheatre. This year, the programme runs from 19 July to 20 August, with operas including Carmen, The Marriage of Figaro and a 90-minute rendition of Wagner’s Ring cycle. There are also concerts by the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, which has always been at the heart of the festival (bregenzer festspiele.com).

Lucerne Festival Switzerland Inaugurated in 1938, with a concert conducted by Arturo Toscanini in the grounds of Wagner’s villa in Tribschen, the Lucerne Festival is now in three parts. The largest is from 11 August to 10 September this year, and includes more than 100 concerts, many held at the city’s Culture and Convention Centre. Highlights include performances by the Berlin Philharmonic under Sir Simon Rattle, and the English Baroque Soloists under Sir John Eliot Gardiner (www.lucernefestival.ch).

Formentor Sunset Classics Majorca A relatively intimate series of summer concerts featuring some of the most famous names in classical music, this festival unfolds in the grounds of the elegant Formentor hotel, set beside the sea at Majorca’s northeastern tip. From 21 July there are performances by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra and conductor Gustavo Dudamel, and recitals by singers including the Russian operatic soprano Olga Peretyatko (www.formentor sunsetclassics.com).