What better way to enjoy the opening festive evening for the Bath International Music Festival in this Olympic year with the city staging the UK premiere of Vivaldi’s magical & often rarely performed opera, L’Olimpiade.

This spa city will see a plethora of international opera singers, who will be accompanied by the 19-strong Baroque ensemble and the award-winning company ‘La Serenissima’ who are the world’s foremost experts in Vivaldi, which is sure to make this an evening to remember.

This fun-filled, high energy opera brings an evening to tell the story of the Olympic champion Megacle & his love for Princess Aristea. This is a fast-moving production, which will be staged in the beautiful Bath Abbey and offers an epic opera full of wit, mistaken identity and show-stopping arias.

The evening will open with a free spectacle for onlookers of a traditional Baroque Carnival outside the Abbey at 6.30pm, followed by the Wells Cathedral School natural trumpet ensemble playing music by Girolano Fantini, Cesare Bendinelli and Claudio Monteverdi.

The Vivaldi’s L’Olimpiade: Opening Night Gala Opera will take place on 30 May; for more information, call the Bath Box Office on: 01225 463362

Be sure to book with one of the hotels in Bath soon for a luxury Bath bed and breakfast, so you can enjoy one of the annual music festival highlights in the city but also much of Bath’s rich cultural heritage.