Forget sweaty crowds and dance DJs – summer is a great time to relax and hear an opera or a favourite jazz performer at festivals anywhere from the Swiss Alps to Johannesburg. Why not try picnicking at the UK’s Glyndebourne or tippling a Riesling in the Rheingau region of Germany?

Pick and mix

Glyndebourne, Lewes, England, May 17-August 24

It’s famous for its traditional English-style hamper picnics on the beautifully manicured lawns and at tables on the exterior balconies of the opera house. But it is the music-making that goes on inside Glyndebourne that really counts. Productions this year include Strauss’s Der Rosenkavalier, Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin, Handel’s Rinaldo and Verdi’s La Traviata. But what sets the Glyndebourne regulars’ hearts aflutter are the productions of Mozart, for which the house is justly famous, and the two this year are Don Giovanni and La Finta Giardiniera that had its premiere in 1775 just before Mozart’s 19th birthday. Tickets from £50-215 (€62-268).

http://glyndbourne.com

Raise a glass

Various venues, Rheingau region of Germany, June 28-September 13

In some respects, the Rheingau Music Festival is a wine region tour with music attached and with so much going on it boggles the mind.

A festival that can encompass everything from an opening concert tribute to Shakespeare’s birthday with sopranos Miah Persson and Golda Schulz to jazz great Bobby McFerrin “and friends” to a kiddie concert featuring Bert and Ernie, the Muppet characters from Sesame Street, is eclectic, to say the least.

Other names on tap include pianist Pierre-Laurent Aimard and violinist Julia Fischer, while the festival’s composer and artist in residence is Jorg Widmann, a top-notch clarinetist and cutting-edge composer all in one.

A rolling feast of fun, an hour’s drive from Frankfurt and with ticket prices in the €15-80 range. And don’t forget to sample the Riesling.

http://rheingau-musik-festival.de

Turkish delight

Istanbul, Turkey, July 1-16

Fans of the US television series House can catch its star, Hugh Laurie, on the piano at the annual Istanbul Jazz Festival.

The actor is a versatile musician who has settled on the keyboard with his blues-inspired Copper Bottom Band. Rising stars such as Cecile McLorin Salvant, the 25-year-old Grammy nominee whose vocals have been compared to Billie Holiday and Sarah Vaughan, and Brooklyn-based, rock-influenced bandleader and composer Darcy James Argue also perform at the festival, staged by Turkey’s most venerable cultural institution, the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts. Benin singer Angelique Kidjo and psychedelic Turkish folk rock group BaBa Zula also take the stage at venues across Europe’s biggest city, including parks that will host free concerts. Tickets range from 20 lira (€9) to 350 lira (€161).

http://caz.iksv.org/en

A French twist

Aix-en-Provence, France, July 3-24

Cited as best opera festival at the International Opera Awards this year, Aix-en-Provence almost always provides at least one production that sets the opera world abuzz. In 2012, it was the world premiere of George Benjamin’s searing Written on Skin; last year it was the final production by the late French director Patrice Chereau of Strauss’s Elektra.

What it will be this year is anyone’s guess, but the offerings are Mozart’s Magic Flute, directed by Simon McBurney, Handel’s Ariodante in a production by Richard Jones and Rossini’s Il Turco in Italia, staged by Christopher Alden.

All this is interspersed with a wide spectrum of musical offerings that will include a staging by artist William Kentridge of Schubert’s song cycle Die Winterreise, sung by baritone Matthias Goerne with Markus Hinterhauser at the piano and Katie Mitchell’s staging of J. S. Bach’s Trauernacht cantatas with soloists and instrumentalists of the European Academy of Music.

Tickets €30-120 for recitals, €30-250 for operas.

http://festival-aix.com

Supremely lovely

Glynde Place, Lewes, UK, July 4-6

With star attractions including Soul II Soul, Imelda May and De La Soul, the boutique Love Supreme Jazz Festival set deep in the Sussex countryside is stretching the boundaries of what might be considered ‘jazz’ but there is plenty of instrumental twiddling elsewhere on the bill to keep the aficionados happy.

It’s a well-shod event, graced by a champagne-and-oyster bar, as well as the more usual festival fare, and its location in a posh corner of rural England helps explain why many in the crowd – men in red trousers and women in cashmere pashminas – could be refugees from upper-crust events like the Henley Regatta.

Its backdrop of the South Downs and Elizabethan-era Glynde Place are a picturesque setting for some top acts. Prices range from adult daily tickets at £60.50 (€76) to family VIP including camping at £540 (€675).

http://lovesupremefestival.com

Alpine acoustics

Montreux, Switzerland, July 4-19

The 48th edition of one of Europe’s most prestigious summer music events offers great jazz and rock (albeit at steep prices), stunning views of the Swiss Alps and easy transport.

Pharrell Williams (July 7) and Stevie Wonder (July 16) are the sold-out headliners but the Montreux Jazz Festival box office always has limited tickets on the night of each concert to cut down on scalping.

Outkast, Massive Attack and Jamie Cullum are also booked in Stravinski Auditorium, with smaller groups playing in the Jazz Club or Jazz Lab where entry is 100-200 Swiss francs (€82-164).

The Brazil Boat event on July 13, music while crossing the lake, is a reasonable 65 francs (€53). In addition to indoor concerts with great acoustics, there are free outdoor concerts along the shores of Lake Geneva, dotted with food stands.

The Chateau de Chillon, made famous by English poet Lord Byron with his poem on the prisoner, is a short bus ride or walk. Going for a swim or sailing in Lake Geneva can be delightful.

http://montreuxjazzfestival.com

Jazz kicks off

Perugia, Italy, July 11-20

Italy’s music scene shows it has more to offer than nights at the opera in July as the hilltop town of Perugia in the middle of the “boot” plays host to an altogether more unruly genre for Umbria Jazz.

Festivities kick off on July 10 with a charity football match between two teams formed entirely of musicians: Nazionale Italiana Cantanti and Nazionale Italiana Jazzisti. American jazz greats Herbie Hancock and Al Jarreau will please the purists, while hip-hop group The Roots become the first rap act to play at the festival in its 37-year history.

Ladies’ night features Natalie Cole, daughter of the late Nat King, and a day dedicated to Italian artists will end with a tribute to film music composer Armando Trovajoli. Hit Techno-Logical, the festival within a festival where live DJs play dance music non-stop from 4pm to 4am.

Pay a visit to the Perugina chocolate factory museum or visit the 16th-century fortress known as the Rocca Paolina. Tickets to different events cost €10-55.

http://umbriajazz.com

Stay at home

Valletta, Malta, July 17-19

If you don’t want to venture abroad, Malta’s concerts can hold their own against international competition. Now in its 24th edition, the Malta Jazz Festival is held in the open-air setting of Ta’ Liesse and this year’s musicians are noted for dabbling with other types of music.

Mehliana (featuring Brad Mehldau and Mark Guiliana) mix jazz with electronica to create a trance-laden music, while French-born Laurent Coq combines Caribbean/Creole influences with modern jazz piano in his Laurent Coq Dialogue Trio.

Other rising stars include vibraphonist Warren Wolf and Kneebody, with local performers Paul Abela Quintet featuring Gabriele Comeglio, Joseph Camilleri Trio, Dominic Galea Trio and Francesca Galea, winner of last year’s Jazz Contest.

There is also a fringe festival – Jazz on the Fringe – featuring master classes and open-air concerts. Tickets cost between €20-75.

http://maltajazzfestival.org

Hit the slopes

Verbier, Switzerland, July 18- August 3

This festival making efficient summertime use of a Swiss ski resort has been described as the music world’s equivalent of the annual Davos economic summit – for good reason.

Pianist Martha Argerich has been a regular since the festival started 20 years ago and her presence assures not just a high standard of music-making, but also the recruitment of an elite crew of music-makers.

This year’s crop includes cellist Steven Isserlis, guest conductors Marc Minkowski, Ivan Fischer and Daniel Harding, pianist Evgeny Kissin and singers Vittorio Grigolo, Thomas Hampson, Rene Pape, Eva-Maria Westbroek, Ramon Vargas and Rolando Villazon.

There’s also a world music night with Senegalese troubadour Youssou N’Dour to leaven the loaf. Ticket costs 45-180 Swiss francs (€37-150). Hotel space is not cheap but is available, thanks to the ski resort locale.

http://verbierfestival.com

Life of luxury

Salzburg, Austria, July 13-August 31

This year’s Salzburg Festival continues the tradition at one of the world’s most prestigious music venues of being cutting edge and dripping with luxury at the same time. For those who want to know where opera is going, French composer Marc-Andre Dalbavie, steeped in the spectral school, teams up with librettist Barbara Honigmann and director Luc Bondy for Charlotte Salomon, based on the work of the Jewish artist gassed at Auschwitz.

For those who take their opera star-powered, Anna Netrebko and Placido Domingo pair up for a new production of Verdi’s Il Trovatore by Alvis Hermanis. Throw in Der Rosenkavalier, directed by Harry Kupfer for the occasion of Strauss’s 150th anniversary, and Gustavo Dudamel conducting in the festival’s parallel concert series, and it is a festive time indeed. Prices between €16-420.

http://salzburgerfestspiele.at

Water music

Lake Constance, Austria, July 23-August 25

The Bregenzer Festspiele on the shore of Lake Constance in western Austria features Mozart’s The Magic Flute. The festival’s premiere is on July 24.

David Pountney is artistic director for the event, whose spectacular sets on a stage perched above the lake make dramatic viewing.

Tickets start at €29 and go up to €300. The show goes on even if it is raining. Organisers recommend bringing waterproof clothing rather than umbrellas, which block the view.

http://bregenzerfestspiele.com

Get in early

Utrecht, Netherlands, August 29-September 7

Now in its fourth decade, the Utrecht Early Music Festival in the picturesque university town builds on a strong Dutch early music tradition, built up over decades by great performers such as the late harpsichordist Gustav Leonhardt.

This year, the festival focuses on the baroque composers of the Habsburg lands, in particular Baroque-era Prague and Vienna.

Visitors can listen to live performances of works by some of Bach’s and Handel’s most accomplished contemporaries, including Isaac, Biber, Fux and the Bohemian composer Zelenka.

Highlights include violinist Gunar Letzbor and his ensemble Ars Antiqua Austria, and Vaclav Luks’s ensemble Collegium 1704, playing baroque repertoire from Prague. Tickets cost €10-36.

http://oudemuziek.nl

The show must go on

Odessa, Ukraine, September 11-14/Koktobel, Crimea, September 12-15

After 11 years of being one of the largest music festivals in the post-Soviet region, following Russia’s annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea in March, the open-air jazz fest in the resort town of Koktobel has split into two events.

The Koktebel Jazz Festival will take place September 11-14 in Zatoka and Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi, in Ukraine’s Odessa region, some 50km from Odessa. Britain’s Get the Blessing is among the headliners and remaining tickets available via the website are going for 599 hryvnias (around €37).

http://koktebel.info.

Meanwhile, the Koktebel Jazz Party will take place from September 12-15 in Koktebel, a resort town in southeastern Crimea.

Tickets are not available yet, but organisers say they will be sold by the peninsula’s Moscow-backed authorities and proceeds will go to the local government. US acts The Jamal Thomas Band, Deborah Brown and Valery Ponomaryov are among the headliners.

http://koktebel-jazz.ru

Song and dance

Johannesburg, South Africa, September 25-27

South Africans are steeped in music and even wintry weather will not keep them away from a good groove.

Dianne Reeves, Billy Ocean, Delfeayo Marsalis, Gregory Porter and Roy Hargrove will feature at the 14th installation of the annual Joy of Jazz festival. South African stars include Sibongile Khumalo and Jonas Gwangwa.

The venue is moving away from the downtown Newtown precinct to the Sandton Convention Centre. A two-day pass costs 1,250 rand (€87). If all the dancing doesn’t exhaust you, head out to Soweto and check out Vilakazi Street, former home to two Nobel Peace laureates.

Take a tour of the Mandela House museum, then try some tripe at the vibrant Samkhumzi Restaurant, a stone’s throw away from Archbishop Tutu’s residence.

http://joyofjazz.co.za