Programme:
J. S. Bach: Three motets for double choir and basso continuo
“Singet dem Herrn ein neues Lied”, BWV 225
“Komm, Jesu, komm”, BWV 229
“Der Geist hilft unser Schwachheit auf”, BWV 226
C. Carrara: O Somma Luce, for a cappella choir and flute, inspired by Dante Alighieri’s Paradiso
F. Mendelssohn-Bartholdy: Three psalms for mixed choir a cappella
Psalm 2 “Warum toben die Heiden”,  for soloists and double choir in G minor, Op. 78/1
Psalm 43 “Richte mich, Gott”, for double choir in D minor, Op. 78/2
Psalm 22 “Mein Gott, warum hast du mich verlassen?”, for soloists and double choir in E minor, Op. 78/3

In 20 years of activity the Friuli Venezia Giulia Choir has given more than 400 concerts at the most prestigious venues and festivals across Italy and Europe.  It has collaborated with soprano Emma Kirkby and has performed with jazz trumpeter Kenny Wheeler, who composed and performed an oratorio expressly for it, and with popular tenor Andrea Bocelli. Since its founding it has been led by Cristiano Dell’Oste, and at the Ljubljana Festival the choir will sing under conductor Ernest Hoetzl, the famous Austrian composer and recipient of the Austrian Cross and Medal for Merit. The programme will include in particular compositions with church content. In performing the motets of Johann Sebastian Bach, the choir will be accompanied by artistic director Cristiano Dell’Oste, who will for this occasion play the organ. Bach supposedly composed his motets in their entirety in around 1723 for the choir he then led in Leipzig. Just over 120 years later, in the spirit of Romanticism and tonal inflection, Felix Mendelssohn-Batholdy composed a series of three psalms and compiled them into Op. 78. The guest for the evening will be the highly regarded Slovene flautist Boris Bizjak, who will perform with the choir a composition by the contemporary Italian composer Cristian Carrara – a work dedicated to the 700th anniversary of the death of the most influential Italian poet Dante Alighieri.