Every year Cremona honours its most famous son with an annual three-week festival featuring a mix of his own works and works of those he inspired and mentored. Acclaimed by musicologists as the first major figure in the history of opera, and one of the greatest of all opera composers, he was the first to grasp the essentials of music-drama. This year’s 30th edition includes big names of baroque music such as conductor Rinaldo Alessandrini and his Concerto Italiano, the Capella Reial de Catalunya Hesperion XXI directed by Jordi Savall, The Tallis Scholars, the lively Trio Mediaeval, cellist Giovanni Sollima. There are also a series of lectures, documentaries and films entitled Monteverdi OFFicine. Most of the performances are at the Teatro Ponchielli, but local churches are annexed for the occasion. For information Teatro Ponchielli, tel. 0372022001, www.teatroponchielli.it.