• The Vienna Philharmonic is an orchestra that was founded in 1842
• The Vienna Philharmonic is based at the Musikverein in Vienna, Austria; its members are selected from the orchestra of the Vienna State Opera
• Richard Wagner described the orchestra as one of the world’s finest; Anton Bruckner called it “the most superior musical association”; Johannes Brahms counted himself as a “friend and admirer”; Gustav Mahler claimed to be joined together with the orchestra through “the bonds of musical art”; and Richard Strauss summarised these sentiments by saying: “All praise of the Vienna Philharmonic reveals itself as understatement.”
• The orchestra’s uniqueness is based not only on a homogenous musical style, but also on its unique structure and history; the desire to put on outstanding performances of symphonic works by Mozart and Beethoven led to the decision by court opera musicians to prepare a “philharmonic” concert series independent of their work at the opera and to organise it themselves
• The concerts performed by the Vienna Philharmonic express the ideals of peace, humanity and reconciliation; this includes performing concerts in locations of historical significance as well as painful flashpoints in political history (the former concentration camp at Mauthausen (2000), a concert in Sarajevo to commemorate the outbreak of World War I (2014) and a Concert for Peace in Versailles to commemorate the end of the war (2018))

Programme:
M. Ravel: The tomb of Couperin (Le tombeau de Couperin)
M. Ravel: Piano Concerto in G major
J. Sibelius: Symphony No. 2 in D major, Op. 43

The 70th Ljubljana Festival will conclude with the Vienna Philharmonic, an orchestra boasting 180 years of tradition and consisting of the best musicians from all around the world. On this occasion they will perform three works from the turbulent first half of the twentieth century, when the musical idiom of the western world was finding new paths. Moved by the horrors of the World War I, the French composer Maurice Ravel wrote the neo-Baroque suite Le tombeau de Couperin. He dedicated different movements in the suite to his friends who fell in battle. One of his last works and undoubtedly the most renowned, the Piano Concerto in G Major, is characterised by the melodies of Basque music, reflecting Ravel’s origin, and the rich diversity of jazz. Performing as the soloist will be an Austrian pianist and an honorary member of the Vienna Philharmonic who is highly acclaimed by the critics, with a career spanning decades: Rudolf Buchbinder. The event will conclude under the baton of elite conductor and composer, the Finn Esa-Pekka Salonen (who was otherwise the principal conductor of the Philharmonia Orchestra from Londons and is currently the music director of San Francisco Symphony), with Symphony No. 2 in D Major, Op. 43, by the conductor’s compatriot Jean Sibelius, which he himself described as essentially being “a confession of the soul”.

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