24-31 July. This short festival is held at La Foce, the one time home of Anglo-American-Irisheristerio writer author Iris Origo, made famous in her book War in Val d'Orcia.

The festival gradual grew out of her grandson's invitations to fellow musicians and has now been going for more than 25 years.

This year it is noticeably shorter but still includes visual arts, gastronoic delights and a tour by Benedetta Origo of La Foce gardens, which were designed by Cecil Pinsent.

The programme consists of John Eliot Gardiner (25 July), Ian Bostridge and Julius Drake (26 July), Alessio Bax and Lucille Chung (28 July), the Borromeo String Quartet playing Beethoven's late quartets (29-30 July) and the final concert of music by Mozart, Dohnanyi and Brahms (31 July). For times and locations of the concerts see the website.