July and Aug. Villa Rufolo on the Amalfi coast is the spectacular setting for a series of symphony concerts (on the Belvedere) and chamber music concerts (in the Wagner garden).

The symphony concerts are performed by Italy's best orchestras, led by top conductors playing an unusual repertoire of music seldom heard during the regular music seasons. These include the Accademia Barocco S. Cecilia playing music by Vivaldi (7 July); Orchestra Giovanile Cherubini, music by Cimarosa and Mozart; S. Carlo di Napoli, conducted by Juraj Valčuha, music by Rota, Williams and Gershwin (18 July); Carlo Felice di Genoa, conducted by Wayne Marshall, playing music by Ghedini and Ravel (21 July); Massimo di Palermo conducted by Gabriele Ferro with music by Zemlinsky, Smareglia and Strauss (28 July); Comunale di Bologna conducted by Pietari Inkinin with music by Respighi, Rimsky-Korsakov and Stravinsky (4 Aug); Filarmonica Salernitana conducted by Ryan McAdams with music by Liszt, Chausson, Sgambati, Sarasate (20 Aug); Orchestra Filarmonica della Scala conducted by Lorenzo Viotti with music by Rossini, Puccini and Dvorak.

The one dance event on 12 July could be controversial as the star is Sergei Polunin (see Dance) now under a cloud for his homophobic posts on Instagram. According to the programme he will dance with choreographers Ross Freddie Ray (Fraudulent Smile) and Yuka Oishi (Sacre), alongside Johann Kobborg. www.ravellofestival.com.