Name: Opening Concert
Start: 2024-02-18T00:00:00.000Z
End: 2024-02-18T00:00:00.000Z
Location: Cankarjev dom

Organization

Admin

Festival Ljubljana

Conductor

Yan Pascal Tortelier

Orchestra

RTV Slovenia Symphony Orchestra

Instrumentalist

Pianist

Kai-Min Chang

Piano

Others

Mixed Choir of the Musical Mother Ljubljana

Festival Choir Virtuosi

Chorus master

Ana Erčulj

Singer

Sophie Marin-Degor

Soprano

Annalisa Stroppa

Mezzo-Soprano

Celso Albelo

Tenor

Paul Armin Edelmann

Bass

Chamber Choir of the Academy of Music of the University of Ljubljana

Sebastjan Vrhovnik

Bojan Suđić

Opening Concert

Ljubljana

Slovenia

Cankarjev dom

Kai-Min Chang, Klavir Sophie Marin-Degor, Sopran Annalisa Stroppa, Mezzosopran Celso Albelo, Tenor Paul Armin Edelmann, Bas Dirigent: Yan Pascal Tortelier: Piano Concerto No. 2 in B-flat Major, op. 83 Brahms (+2 More)

Public

Piano Concerto No. 2

Psalm 24

Requiem

Matias Vergara Moyano

Approved

The opening evening will begin with a performance by the Taiwanese pianist Kai-Min Chang, the winner of the 1st Ljubljana Festival International Piano Competition, held in 2023. Chang will perform one of the most challenging concertos in the piano repertoire, the Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No. 2 in B-flat  major by Johannes Brahms, a large-scale work which took the composer three full years to complete. Considered by many to be Brahms’s opus summum, in recognition of the lofty position it occupies in the composer’s oeuvre, it is also regarded as one of the pinnacles of nineteenth-century piano concerto composition. The work combines the characteristics of the concerto and the symphony, with a structure that is subordinated to musical expression and requires a technically demanding interpretation that is a great challenge for every pianist. In the second part of the programme, the RTV Slovenia Symphony Orchestra and the distinguished French conductor Yan Pascal Tortelier will be joined by the Mixed Choir of the Glasbena Matica Ljubljana, the Virtuosi Festival Choir, the Academy of Music Chamber Choir, the soprano Sophie Marin-Degor, the mezzo-soprano Annalisa Stroppa, the tenor Celso Albelo and the bass-baritone Paul Armin Edelmann in a performance of the Messe de Requiem  by Camille Saint-Saëns. Once described as the French Mendelssohn, Saint-Saëns was acclaimed as the epitome of French genius. He played a unique role in transforming French musical taste from grand opera to the classical symphony and was notable for his ability to maintain traditional form while simultaneously experimenting with contemporary musical stylings to appeal to an ever-changing French audience. These qualities are reflected in this unusual work, which remains an important part of his musical legacy and represents a unique interpretation of a liturgical text that combines Classical and Romantic musical elements.

English

Performance credits (Cast & Crew )

Instrumentation

Ensemble