We would like to inform all visitors that the 2nd concert of the 7th Winter Festival will start at 7.30 pm sharp due to radio broadcasting, so we kindly ask you to come to the event earlier.

We thank you for your understanding.

Programme:
Gioachino Rossini: Stabat Mater for Soloists, Choir and Orchestra
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Ferruccio Busoni: Turandot Suite, Op. 41

Gioachino Rossini’s cantata Stabat Mater,  considered one of the most important pieces of sacred music of the 19th century, received its premiere performance in Paris in 1842. Demonstrating his customary mastery of the operatic idiom, the composer combined spectacular vocal passages with subtle orchestration, creating a wonderful atmosphere of profound religious sentiment. Although the Stabat Mater  was not Rossini’s first religious work, it became one of his most popular. In addition to the original version, arrangements were later created by other composers, expanding and adapting the score for various performers and ensembles. Ferruccio Busoni found the inspiration for his suite Turandot in the Chinese story Turandot,  which also served as the basis for Giacomo Puccini’s famous opera of the same name. Busoni completed his orchestral suite in 1905 and the work received its premiere performance in Berlin that same year, conducted by the composer himself. Since then it has been one of Busoni’s best-known works, characterised by the composer’s brilliant writing for the piano and a rich sonic palette depicting the Asian scenes from the story. An ensemble consisting of the internationally renowned soloists Olga Kulchynska (soprano), Gaëlle Arquez (mezzo-soprano), Francesco Demuro (tenor) and Riccardo Zanellato (bass), the Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra and the Megaron Chamber Choir will be led by the Italian conductor Roberto Abbado, a member of a distinguished musical family; his father was the pianist and composer Marcello Abbado and his uncle was the conductor Claudio Abbado. He is currently the Chief Conductor of the Filarmonica del Teatro Comunale di Bologna. In 2008, he received the Franco Abbiati Award, which is awarded by the National Association of Music Critics of Italy

• Roberto Abbado was the first Italian conductor to lead the traditional New Year’s Concert at La Fenice in Venice on 1 January 2008
• Riccardo Zanellato discovered his passion for singing during his military service, when he was selected to sing in the Representative Choir of the Julia Alpine Brigade
• Gaëlle Arquez recorded her first album for Deutsche Grammophon, Ardente Flamme, in 2017
• when she was 15 she adored pop singers such as Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston
• Francesco Demuro made his opera debut in Luisa Miller in Parma in 2007. His US debut came in October 2009, when he appeared in Seattle Opera’s production of La traviata
• Olga Kulchynska was born into a family of musicians; her grandfather, Yaroslav Kulchynskyi, is an Honoured Artist of Ukraine and a singer in the Rivne Philharmonic; her father Serhiy is a pianist and the former artistic director of the Rivne Philharmonic