Anthony Hopkins arrives in Cortona with his wife and will be a star guest of the Tuscan Sun Festival, which starts on the 3rd and runs until the 9th of August.
Cortona, which became famous in the popular mind, after the book "Under The Tuscan Sun" of Frances Mayes used the small town as the central location, has been hosting the Sun Festival for 7 years now.
Each evening the festival presents concerts by some of the world's most distinguished artists performing in the intimate setting of the 420 seat, Romantic-period theatre, Teatro Signorelli. The steps of Teatro Signorelli spill into the atmospheric open-air Piazza Signorelli, site of not only this year's ballet performance by soloists of the American Ballet Theatre, but the festival closing night Opera Gala, featuring non other than superstar soprano Angela Gheorghiu.
Hopkins will be presenting his own composition called "Winter Waltz" as well as an exhibition of paintings entitles Masques.
Artists including Joshua Bell, Stéphane Denève, Nina Kotova, Danielle de Niese, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Maija Kovalevska, Vlad Mirita, Jaap van Zweden, Michael Guttman and Gisele Ben-Dor will all be featured at the festival this year.