by InTrieste
For two decades, the Wunderkammer Festival has transformed Trieste into a haven for lovers of early music, bridging centuries and styles under the direction of Paola Erdas and founding director Andrea Lausi. This year’s milestone 20th edition embraces the theme JANAS—a nod to Sardinian mythology’s mystical, mischievous fairies—symbolizing the festival’s signature balance between past and present, tradition and innovation.
Running from October 17 to 21, the 2025 edition will feature eight concerts across the city, from morning through evening, bringing together internationally acclaimed ensembles and soloists from France, Norway, Italy, and Switzerland. As in previous years, the program is divided into three sections: Conserto in Concerto (ensembles), Concerti Gioiello(recitals), and Bimbi ma non solo, a family-friendly series designed for both children and adults.
The festival will also extend beyond its autumn dates. On March 21, 2026, Wunderkammer will mark the European Day of Early Music with a performance by top students from the Department of Early Music at the Vicenza Conservatory at Trieste’s Torre del Lloyd. A special closing concert on January 15, 2026, part of the Confini|Concetti decentrati series organized with Friuli Early Music (FEM), will feature Mara Galassi on Spanish and hooked harps in dialogue with Paola Erdas on spinetta attiorbata, promising a unique exploration of timbre and texture.
The opening night on Friday, October 17, brings France’s Le Concert de l’Hostel Dieu to Teatro Miela for the ensemble’s only Italian date—a program fusing Bach with baroque and hip-hop dance. The following morning, harpsichordist Jean-Marc Aymes of the CNSMD in Lyon will perform a program devoted to the 17th-century cosmopolitan composer Johann Jakob Froberger at the Lutheran Church.
Saturday’s lineup continues with Il Mago DouDou, a playful family show by Pier Maestri with Alessandra Sagelli and Sara Radin, followed by an evening performance at Torre del Lloyd by Le Mandorle, an emerging French ensemble supported by the European Union’s S-EEmmerging program.
On Sunday, October 19, the Museo Sartorio will host a late-morning recital by lutenist Jadran Duncumb, whose recent Bach album received the prestigious Diapason d’Or award. Later that afternoon, Giovanni Bellini will evoke the world of Lorenzo the Magnificent through music and poetry at the Teatro Rossetti, while the evening’s performance at Teatro Miela—Barocco in Bilico—will blend baroque harp by Chiara Granata with acrobatic stilt and pole choreography by Sarah Giulia Gibbon.
The festival concludes on Tuesday, October 21, with Quadro Janas, a revival of an extraordinary ensemble featuring flautist and conductor Dorothee Oberlinger alongside Lorenzo Cavasanti, Paola Erdas, and Jorge Alberto Guerrero in works by Corelli and Vivaldi.
Supported by the Friuli Venezia Giulia Region, Fondazione Casali, and the Starassociati architecture studio, the Wunderkammer Festival also collaborates with the Società dei Concerti, Porto di Trieste, Teatro Miela, Ghislieri Musica Antica, and Barocco Europeo, with logistical support provided by Teatro Rossetti.
After twenty years of celebrating early music through creative reinvention, Wunderkammer continues to make the old sound new—just as its mythic Janas weave magic between worlds, so too does the festival bridge centuries through sound.
