The Ljubljana Festival announces a summer of cultural superlatives and extraordinary experiences The 72nd Ljubljana Festival, which runs from 20 June to 3 September, promises the finest symphonic and chamber concerts, opera and ballet performances by prestigious companies, a new production of an acclaimed musical and appearances by some of the most important classical and popular artists from Slovenia and abroad. The works created at the XXVII International Art Colony will further enlarge the Ljubljana Festival’s collection of contemporary art, while the youngest designers will have an opportunity to demonstrate their creativity at the Little Art Colony. Promising young musicians will be able to develop their skills with top teachers at the 2024 Ljubljana Festival Masterclasses.

OPENING OF THE 72nd LJUBLJANA FESTIVAL

This year’s festival will open with the traditional gala concert Summer Night, this time dedicated to the hits of singers Ditka Haberl, Alenka Pinterič and Neca Falk. Guest singers accompanied by the RTV Slovenia Symphony Orchestra, Big Band and Youth Choir conducted by Patrik Greblo will take the stage in Congress Square to perform well-known hits such as: Nad mestom se dani, Samo nasmeh je bolj grenak, Mlade oči, Vila z rimskega zidu, Kot nekdo, ki imel me je rad, Dan ljubezni, Sto majhnih nežnosti, Povabi srečo, Štajerska lady, Mini maxi, Krašovc, S kitaro in dolgimi lasmi, Prva ljubezen, Kako sva si različna, Dobro jutro, dober dan, Banane, Vsi ljudje hitijo,  and many more.

(20 June, 8.45 pm, Congress Square)

THE MOST BEAUTIFUL COMPOSITIONS FOR BRASS AND WOODWIND CHAMBER ENSEMBLES

The ninth edition of the Ljubljana Festival on the Ljubljanica brings five concerts by brass and woodwind ensembles made up of some of the most promising students from the University of Ljubljana’s Academy of Music. The waterborne performances by these young musicians will conjure up an idyllic summer atmosphere as the boats glide past the interesting bridges and picturesque embankments of Ljubljana’s Old Town.

(26–28 June, various embarkation points)

PUCCINI’S LOVE TRIANGLE FEATURING WORLD-CLASS OPERA STARS

Gianluca Martinenghi conducts the Symphony Orchestra of the Slovene National Theatre Maribor in this production of Giacomo Puccini’s fifth opera Tosca, directed by Pier Francesco Maestrini. The title role will be sung by soprano Rebeka Lokar, who made such an impression when she stood in for Monica Zanettin as Cio-Cio-San in the second performance of Madama Butterfly  at last year’s 71st Ljubljana Festival. The role of Tosca’s lover Mario Cavarodossi will be sung by the American tenor Jonathan Tetelman, renowned for his dark-coloured timbre, who arrives in Ljubljana directly from the Metropolitan Opera in New York. The role of the jealous and unscrupulous antagonist Baron Scarpia will be interpreted by the Serbian baritone Željko Lučić, celebrated for his leading roles in numerous Verdi operas.

(26 June, 8 pm, Gallus Hall, Cankarjev Dom)

ZORBA THE GREEK IN A NEW GUISE

This international hit musical, popular with audiences of all generations, is based on the attractive “Greek” idiom of the music of Mikis Theodorakis, largely responsible for popularising the sirtaki, a dance characterised by long, slow movements reminiscent of dances of the “dragging” style and performed by a line of dancers with linked arms. The new version of the ballet, by the renowned choreographer Lorca Massine, has been created for the Maribor ballet company’s new generation of dancers. With its spiritual connection to Kazantzakis, the contemplative music of Theodorakis and the virtuoso expressiveness of Massine’s choreography, the ballet not only conjures the picturesque atmosphere of Crete, it triggers a reflection on the meaning of life.

(27 June, 9 pm, Križanke Summer Theatre)

CONCERT BY AN ACTING LEGEND

Actor, director, poet and musician Rade Šerbedžija returns to the Križanke Summer Theatre. Together with his band Zapadni Kolodvor he will present a wide selection of songs from a career dating all the way back to 1974. His “songs of love, friendship and feelings” – which can be variously characterised as hits, evergreen favourites, “old town songs” (starogradske pesme) and chansons – will be interspersed with interludes of prose and poetry. He will be joined onstage by three remarkable musicians – pianist Vasil Hadžimanov, guitarist Miroslav Tadić and violinist and singer Yvette Holzwarth. Singer Damir Urban, a former member of the band Laufer, will also make a guest appearance.

(28 June, 9 pm, Križanke Summer Theatre)

ARTURO O’FARRILL & THE AFRO LATIN JAZZ ORCHESTRA FOR THE FIRST TIME IN SLOVENIA

Pianist Arturo O’Farrill is the leader of the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra, founded in 2002 and “one of the best jazz orchestras in existence”, with which he has won seven Grammys, most recently for last year’s album Fandango at the Wall in New York (Best Latin Jazz Album). He can be heard in his other role as a jazz pianist on his most recent small-group album Legacies (Blue Note, 2023). This concert is Arturo’s 18-piece big band’s first appearance in Slovenia and their only performance in Europe this year.

(30 June, 9 pm, Križanke Summer Theatre)

A BALLET SPECTACULAR FROM KAZAKHSTAN

For two evenings the Gallus Hall at Cankarjev Dom will host Astana Opera’s production of Spartacus, one of the most celebrated ballets of the twentieth century, with choreography by ballet master Yuri Grigorovich. The ballet company of the State Opera and Ballet Theatre in Astana (to give it its full name) thrilled audiences at last year’s 71st Ljubljana Festival with excerpts from various ballets. Since its founding in 2013, it has collaborated with stars of the calibre of Plácido Domingo, Zubin Mehta, Valery Gergiev and Anna Netrebko. The music will be performed by the Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Abzal Mukhitdinov.

(1 and 2 July, 8 pm, Gallus Hall, Cankarjev Dom)

ALL RACHMANINOFF’S PIANO CONCERTOS IN TWO EVENINGS

A unique musical experience over two evenings awaits us as part of this year’s 72nd Ljubljana Festival: on 3 and 4 July we will have the opportunity to hear all four piano concertos by Sergei Rachmaninoff.
The works will be performed by the celebrated pianist Mikhail Pletnev. He will be accompanied by the Concerto Budapest Symphony Orchestra, one of Hungary’s oldest orchestras. On the first evening the orchestra will be conducted by its music director and chief conductor András Keller, and on the second by the Austrian conductor Alexei Kornienko. The programme will also include two works by Béla Bartók: the suites The Miraculous Mandarin  and Hungarian Pictures.

(3 and 4 July, 8 pm, Gallus Hall, Cankarjev Dom)

HOMAGE TO MILAN KUNDERA

A Solitude Surrounded by Other Solitudes  is a Glej Theatre and Anton Podbevšek Theatre co-production directed and choreographed by Maša Kagao Knez and conceived as a homage to the literary oeuvre of Milan Kundera, from which it draws inspiration. The themes that appear in his works are questions of human existence and, within this, questions of duality. The texts, chosen by Borut Veselko and Maša Kagao Knez, are like the notes of a score in which the performers delineate motifs through dance, narration and singing and develop variations on a theme.

(5 July, 8 pm, Glej Theatre)

XXVII INTERNATIONAL ART COLONY

The International Art Colony under the leadership of selector Tomo Vran takes place at Križanke from 7 to 12 July. The artists who will be creating in the magical setting of Plečnik’s architecture this year are Sofie Švejdová (Czech Republic), Zhao Peizhi (China), Zlatko Krstevski (North Macedonia), Ahmet Özel (Turkey), Marko Tušek (Slovenia), Luka Širok (Slovenia), Andreja Srna (Slovenia) and Simon Mlakar (Slovenia).

(7–12 July, Križanke)

LITTLE ARTS COLONY

Children’s art workshops will also take place between 8 and 12 July. Participation in these workshops is free of charge (booking required) and open to children aged 7 to 14 with a desire to create. The workshops will be run by the artist Ema Kobal.

(8–12 July, Križanke)

MAESTRO NANSE GUM RETURNS TO SLOVENIA

The Seongnam Philharmonic Orchestra was founded in 2003. Its artistic director and chief conductor is the highly experienced Nanse Gum, the first Korean to win the Herbert von Karajan Young Conductors Award. The orchestra will perform Benjamin Britten’s Simple Symphony,  followed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Violin Concerto No. 3,  nicknamed Strasbourg,  with soloist Maria Solozobova. After the interval we will hear Jung Jae-Min’s Urban Arirang  performed on the haegeum, a traditional Korean instrument, accompanied by the orchestra. The haegeum will be played by Min Jio. The evening will end with a performance of Mozart’s Symphony No. 40 in G minor.

(8 July, 5 pm, Gala Hall, National Gallery)

VERDI’S IL TROVATORE PERFORMED BY THE TEATRO DEL MAGGIO MUSICALE FIORENTINO

The opera will be performed by the Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino in collaboration with director Stefania Grazioli, in a revival of the production originally directed by Cesare Lievi. The orchestra will be conducted by the world-famous maestro Zubin Mehta, who on his last visit to Ljubljana in 2019 was presented with the Golden Order of Merit of the Republic of Slovenia in recognition of his supreme contribution to musical performance. The main roles will be sung by Leon Kim, who has won prizes at numerous international competitions (including a primo premio assoluto at the Cappuccilli-Patanè-Respighi Competition); Carolina López Moreno, who has performed in concert halls such as Carnegie Hall and the Berlin Philharmonie; Angelos Samartzis, who has sung leading roles in operas such as La forza del destino, Faust  and Das Rheingold; and Olesya Petrova, who has worked with acclaimed conductors such as Giordano Bellincampi, Emmanuel Villaume and Valery Gergiev.

(8 and 10 July, 8 pm, Gallus Hall, Cankarjev Dom)

GALA CONCERT DEDICATED TO THE MUSIC OF LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN

The programme of this concert includes three of the finest works from Beethoven’s “heroic period”: the Egmont Overture, the Violin Concerto  and the Seventh Symphony.  The orchestra will be conducted by Zubin Mehta, in his fifth Ljubljana Festival appearance. He will conduct the Orchestra of the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, which was founded in 1933 and quickly became a centre for new and unconventional ideas regarding the classical and contemporary repertoires. The violin soloist will be Lana Trotovšek, praised by critics for her pure and refined tone, musical sense of phrasing and impeccable intonation (Washington Post).

(9 July, 8 pm, Gallus Hall, Cankarjev Dom)

CONCERT FOR THE 40TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE BASSOONIST ZORAN MITEV

Zoran Mitev has to date premiered more than 40 solo and chamber works by Slovene and foreign composers. He will be joined by cellist Igor Škerjanec, a past winner of the Betetto Award and the Župančič Prize, and members of the Art Centre Polifonia from Skopje. They will perform works by Gordon Jacob, the neoclassicist Tomislav Zografski, the stylistically eclectic Lars-Erik Larsson, the prolific Marko Mihevc, Dragan Šuplevski, whose music frequently draws on Macedonian folk music, and the intensely expressive Črt Sojar Voglar. Zoran Mitev’s jubilee celebration will thus feature a full and varied programme of superlative chamber music.

(11 July, 8 pm, Križevniška Church)

THE BODYGUARD

The musical The Bodyguard  is based on the 1992 film of the same name, a thriller starring Whitney Houston and Kevin Costner. The musical features songs recorded by Whitney Houston, including the hits I Will Always Love You, I Have Nothing  and I Wanna Dance with Somebody. The musical is directed and choreographed by the acclaimed British performer and creative Mykal Rand, who has already staged several successful productions in Ljubljana, including Hair  (2011), the rock opera Jesus Christ Superstar  (2012), Grease  (2013), Evita (2014), Chicago  (2021) and West Side Story  (2022).

(15–19 July, 9 pm, Križanke Summer Theatre)

AN EVENING OF BAROQUE CHAMBER MUSIC

Conductor, educator and ambassador of Polish culture Andrzej Kosendiak founded the Wrocław Baroque Ensemble in 2012. The ensemble specialises in historically informed performance of less frequently performed works from the central European repertoire. Kosendiak and the ensemble return to Ljubljana following their appearance at the Ljubljana Festival in 2020. This time they will present works by the Gdansk-born German composer Kaspar Förster, who was a pupil of Giacomo Carissimi (a master of the early Baroque, active in Poland, Italy and Denmark). The evening will conclude with a performance of Carissimi’s oratorio Jephte.  The soloist will be the Spanish soprano Alicia Amo.

(20 July, 8 pm, Križevniška Church)

A CONCERT BY THE BRAZILIAN MINISTER OF CULTURE

Margareth Menezes is an artist in constant evolution and movement. In her songs she remains faithful to her roots and combines elements of African, Brazilian and pop music to create an attractive mixture known as Brazilian afropop, a genre she has so far brought to 30 countries on four continents. She is also active in the political sphere and was last year named Minister of Culture in the government of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. She will bring her brand of afropop to the summer festival stage in Ljubljana, where she will be joined by Raoní Lima Maciel (guitar), Caio Felipe Ferreira Nascimento (keyboards), Nelmário Marques Cerqueira (bass), Caio Oliveira Dos Santos (percussion) and Joilson Dias Dos Santos (drums).

(21 July, 9 pm, Križanke Summer Theatre)

YOUNG ITALIAN VIRTUOSI

Italian pianist and conductor Epifanio Comis is the director of the Conservatorio Vincenzo Bellini in Catania, where he also teaches. In 2020 he founded the Orchestra Sinfonica del Conservatorio Vincenzo Bellini di Catania, which also incorporates teachers and students from the Associazione Musicale Etnea. The interesting programme offered by the orchestra in Ljubljana will begin with a piece by Saverio Mercadante. The first part of the concert will end with a work by Alfredo Casella, an influential composer of the interwar period. The concert will continue after the interval with two masterfully orchestrated compositions by the Impressionist composer Maurice Ravel and a jazz-influenced rhapsodic symphonic poem by George Gershwin.

(22 July, 9 pm, Križanke Summer Theatre)

TWO CONCERTS BY GRAMMY-NOMINATED ARTISTS

Alicante-based orchestra ADDA Simfònica Alicante offers two concerts under its principal conductor Josep Vicent. The first concert will consist of compositions by Chick Corea. The Spanish orchestra’s album of music by the famous jazz pianist and composer was nominated for both a Grammy Award and a Latin Grammy Award this year. Joining them on stage will be the Emilio Solla Trio, flamenco singer and saxophonist Antonio Lizana, trumpeter David Pastor, and veteran Cuban-American saxophonist and clarinettist Paquito D’Rivera. The last named is the only artist ever to have won Grammy Awards in both the Classical and Latin Jazz categories.
On the second evening the orchestra will perform Astor Piazzolla’s suite The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires.  Once again the conductor will be Josep Vicent, who is also a regular collaborator with the Catalan theatrical group La Fura dels Baus, most recently on last year’s Pastoral for the Planet.  The soloist will be Fabio Furia, a leading bandoneon player and one of the teachers at this year’s Ljubljana Festival Masterclasses. The evening will be introduced by a dance piece by the Mexican composer Arturo Márquez and will continue after the interval with Manuel de Falla’s Andalusian-inspired suite The Three-Cornered Hat  and Maurice Ravel’s Boléro.

(23 and 24 July, 9 pm, Križanke Summer Theatre)

STREET PERFORMANCE IN THE CITY CENTRE

The OLVO Band (the Royal Youth Band of the Onze-Lieve-Vrouwecollege in Ostend) was founded in 1909. Led since 2017 by Virginie Vantyghem, it has around 70 members aged 12–18. The band has performed in numerous countries, including Austria, Switzerland, Italy, France, Germany, Slovenia, Spain, Croatia, Hungary and Sweden. At this year’s Ljubljana Festival the band will perform in several locations around the city centre, both by the river (Pleteršnik Embankment and Dragon Bridge) and in popular Ljubljana squares (Pogačarjev Trg, Prešeren Square, Dvorni Trg and Stari Trg).

(25 July, various locations)

LJUBLJANA FESTIVAL MASTERCLASSES 2024

Young musicians have the opportunity to hone their skills with leading music teachers personally invited to Ljubljana by masterclasses artistic director Branimir Slokar. This year students will be taught by:

• Latica Honda-Rosenberg, violin
• Lana Trotovšek, violin
• Hartmut Rohde, viola
• Jens-Peter Maintz, cello
• Rick Stotijn, double bass
• Emanuel Abbühl, oboe
• Felix Renggli, flute
• Ole Kristian Dahl, bassoon
• Reinhold Friedrich, trumpet
• Radovan Vlatković, horn
• EpifanioComis, piano
• Fabio Furia, bandoneon

(25 July–11 August, Vič-Rudnik Music School)

CONCERTS BY MASTERCLASS STUDENTS

Students will showcase their talents at four free concerts between 29 July and 10 August:

• Monday, 29 July
  • bandoneon, violin– 4 pm
  • piano, flute– 6 pm
• Saturday, 3 August
  • violin – 6 pm
• Sunday, 4 August
  • cello, double bass– 6 pm
  • bassoon – 8 pm
• Saturday, 10 August
  • viola, oboe– 6 pm
  • trumpet, horn – 8 pm

(29 July–10 August, Križevniška Church)

THE MOST BEAUTIFUL CZECH FOLK SONGS

This recital in Križevniška Church will consist of a selection of folk-inspired songs by the Czech composers Leoš Janáček and Bohuslav Martinů. They will be sung by the soprano Martina Janková, who is known for her interpretations of roles in the operas of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and baroque composers. She will be accompanied on the piano by Christoph Berner, whose broad stylistic range and musical versatility have often been praised by critics.

(26 July, 8 pm, Križevniška Church)

A BLEND OF TRADITION AND MODERNITY

The pipa is a Chinese plucked string instrument whose repertoire covers both Chinese traditional music and works by contemporary composers. The latter category includes the colourful Concerto for String Orchestra and Pipa  by the composer Tan Dun. The pipa will be at the heart of a programme that also includes music by Ennio Morricone from the television series Marco Polo  and Mendelssohn’s “Italian” Symphony,  performed by the Ningbo Symphony Orchestra, which has quickly become one of China’s leading orchestras, thanks to successful concerts both at home and in Europe. The orchestra will be led by its chief conductor Ji Yu and the soloist will be Yuanchun Yu, a teacher of the pipa at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing.

(29 July, 8 pm, Marjan Kozina Hall at the Slovenian Philharmonic Hall)

A TUESDAY EVENING IN KRIŽEVNIŠKA CHURCH

The concert will consist of performances of Edvard Grieg’s Violin Sonata No. 3, Carl Frühling’s Fantasie for Flute and Piano, Sergei Prokofiev’s Sonata for Two Violins, a contemporary work entitled (é)cri(t) by Heinz Holliger, and the Trio for Flute, Violin and Piano by Nino Rota, a composer best known for his film scores. These works will be performed by musicians who have all been guest teachers at the Ljubljana Festival Masterclasses for a number of years: violinists Latica Honda-Rosenberg and Lana Trotovšek, flautist Felix Renggli and pianists Thomas Haberlah and Evgeny Sinaiski.

(30 July, 8 pm, Križevniška Church)

VIVA VIVALDI!

Antonio Vivaldi composed more than 500 concertos for various solo instruments and chamber ensembles. His contribution to violin technique and orchestration was considerable, while at the same time he is considered a pioneer of orchestral programme music. A selection of some of his most recognisable concertos will be performed by the Austrian violinist Benjamin Ziervogel and the Slovene flautist Boris Bizjak, two musicians who are internationally acclaimed both as members of chamber ensembles and as soloists. They will be accompanied by members of the chamber group Ensemble Dissonance, which this year celebrates ten years of activity.

(31 July, 8 pm, Križevniška Church)

UNDISCOVERED PEARLS OF THE ROMANTIC ERA

Catalan flautist Claudi Arimany is joined by one of the Spanish Basque Country’s most prominent pianists, Pedro José Rodríguez, with whom he performed at the 69th Ljubljana Festival, and internationally acclaimed concert flautist Eduard Sánchez, who is also a professor of flute at Barcelona’s Conservatori de Música. The trio will present rarely heard flute compositions from the Romantic period, including works by Theobald Böhm, Friedrich Kuhlau, Franz Doppler, Gioachino Rossini (arranged by Böhm) and Karl Doppler, as well as three arrangements from Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s fairy-tale opera The Magic Flute.

(1 August, 8 pm, Križevniška Church)

DUETTISSIMO

The Duo for Violin and Cello  by Zoltán Kodály and the Sonata for Violin and Cello  by Maurice Ravel are perhaps the two most popular works for violin and cello duo. We will hear them performed by Duettissimo, a duo consisting of violinist Dalia Dėdinskaitė, the winner of numerous competitions (including the international Violine in Dresden competition) and cellist Gleb Pyšniak, who regularly performs in prestigious concert halls such as the Musikverein in Vienna, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam and the Grand Hall of the Moscow Conservatoire. The duo will also perform a musical prayer by Pēteris Vasks and a work of which they are the dedicatees: Dialogues for Violin and Cello  by Anatolijus Šenderovas.

(2 August, 8 pm, Križevniška Church)

FROM GERMANY TO ARGENTINA

Cellist Jens-Peter Maintz, violist Hartmut Rohde, double bassist Rick Stotijn and bassoonist Ole Kristian Dahl – all outstanding musicians and educators – present an interesting programme that includes two works by Ludwig van Beethoven, a sonata by Gustav Schreck, pieces by Robert Schumann, and, to complete the evening, a tango by Astor Piazzolla, whose music incorporates elements of jazz and classical music. They will be accompanied by pianists Rie Shimada, Ken Nakasako, Zsuzsa Bálint and Naoko Sonoda.

(5 August, 8 pm, Križevniška Church)

PIANO MASTERPIECES OF FRÉDÉRIC CHOPIN AND FRANZ LISZT

Hungarian pianist Tamás Érdi is renowned for his interpretations of the Romantic repertoire, notably the works of Frédéric Chopin and Franz Liszt, which he will present in a recital in Križevniška Church. Chopin gave a unique twist to old forms such as the prelude, the fantasia, the mazurka and the nocturne, while in the case of the ballade he invented an entirely new musical genre. It was not until after Chopin’s death that Liszt truly began to shine as a composer. Liszt’s originality was not based on the invention of melody, harmony, counterpoint and rhythm, but on his original handling of texture and sound colours, and on the development of a unique, hitherto unattainable pianistic virtuosity.

(6 August, 8 pm, Križevniška Church)

ENSEMBLE.SI

Križevniška Church provides an intimate setting for a concert by Ensemble.si members Matic Kuder (clarinet) and Andrej Žust (horn), two of the three Slovene members of the famed Berlin Philharmonic; Marko Zupan (flute), who enjoys a varied international career; Luka Mitev (bassoon), a member of the Berlin Konzerthaus Orchester; and Martina Filjak (piano), the winner of the 2009 Cleveland International Piano Competition. They will perform Ludwig van Beethoven’s Trio for Piano, Flute and Bassoon in G major, Franz Berwald’s Beethoven-inspired Quartet for Piano and Winds in E-flat major and Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s Quintet for Piano and Winds in B-flat major.

(7 August, 8 pm, Križevniška Church)

FINAL CONCERT BY THE TEACHERS OF THE 2024 LJUBLJANA FESTIVAL MASTERCLASSES

The last concert by the teachers of this year’s masterclasses features Emanuel Abbühl (oboe), Reinhold Friedrich (trumpet) and Radovan Vlatković (horn). They will be accompanied on the piano by Eriko Takezawa, Kimiko Imani and Danijel Detoni. The evening will begin with a concerto by Johann Wilhelm Hertel, followed by a movement for trumpet solo from an orchestral work by Olivier Messiaen and a selection of folk-inspired compositions by Manuel de Falla. After the interval the concert will continue with works by Gustav Mahler and Carl Reinecke.

(8 August, 6 pm, Križevniška Church)

CONCERT PERFORMANCE OF A MASTERPIECE BY GIACOMO PUCCINI

Puccini’s fourth opera La bohème  is one of the most frequently performed operas in the world. Set in Paris in around 1830, the opera portrays the bohemian lifestyle in a story with a tragedy at its heart. This concert performance of the opera will be conducted by George Pehlivanian, who returns to the summer festival stage after an interval of ten years. In 2020 he founded the Pehlivanian Opera Academy, which offers singers and conductors an excellent opportunity to develop their skills while preparing an opera production. Pehlivanian will relinquish the conductor’s podium to young conductors during the performance, while the singers will also exchange roles among themselves.

(8 August, 8.30 pm, Križanke Summer Theatre)

LJUBLJANA–VIENNA

The saxophone quartet Ensemble 4Saxess, consisting of Andrej Omejc, Oskar Laznik, Tadej Šepec and Dejan Prešiček, performs regularly in Europe and the USA and at major music festivals. The idea behind the Ljubljana–Vienna  project is to highlight the connection between these two cities, both through the programme and through the choice of guests. The quartet will be joined by the Slovene mezzo-soprano Monika Bohinec, a member of the ensemble of the Vienna State Opera, the Austrian violinist Benjamin Ziervogel and the Carinthian Slovene baritone Gabriel Lipuš in a programme including Variations on a Theme by Haydn  by Johannes Brahms, songs by the Slovene Schubert Josip Ipavec, Slovenian Folk Dances  by Alojz Srebotnjak, Styrian Dances  by Joseph Lanner, and Benjamin Ipavec’s Serenade,  a work well known to Slovene audiences.

(9 August, 8 pm, Križevniška Church)

HARMONY OF STRINGS

The first half of this concert will consist of a performance of Johannes Brahms’s String Sextet No. 1,  one of a series of outstanding chamber works from the mid-nineteenth century, while the second will be devoted to Tchaikovsky’s Souvenir de Florence,  a work that combines classical form with melodies inspired by folk music. The two works will be interpreted by the multifaceted violinist Gary Levinson, acclaimed by critics for his instinctive and expansive musicality and his virtuosic technique, violinist Anna Dorothea Mutterer, violists Michael Klotz and Adam Savage and cellists Inbal Segev and Ani Aznavoorian.

(12 August, 8 pm, Križevniška Church)

IN TWO

For many years Nuška Drašček has been captivating audiences with her voice, stage presence and remarkably broad repertoire ranging from opera to jazz, blues, pop, gospel, musicals and chanson. For this concert she has joined forces with accordionist Marko Hatlak, a versatile musician who has been a regular presence on concert stages for more than 20 years. In this thoughtfully planned programme, the two musicians will present their own eclectic selection of favourite tunes and perform them acoustically. The emphasis in the first part of the programme is on music from the Baroque, Classical and Romantic periods, after which they will move on to chansons, tangos, popular and folk songs and original compositions.

(13 August, 8 pm, Križevniška Church)

ROCOCO VARIATIONS

Cellist Bernardo Brizani has forged a successful career as a soloist and chamber musician. A regular collaborator with the Ljubljana Festival since 2019, this time he appears with the Slovenia-based conductor Steven Loy. The latter will conduct the Slovenian Philharmonic String Chamber Orchestra, which has played more than 400 concerts at home and abroad since 1993. Together they will present a stylistically diverse programme including a dynamic work by Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s famous classically inspired Mozartian variations and one of his miniatures, a composition by the young Rijeka-born composer Juraj Marko Žerovnik and finally one of the mainstays of the chamber music repertoire, Franz Schubert’s Death and the Maiden in an arrangement for string orchestra.

(14 August, 8 pm, Križevniška Church)

HOMMAGE À FRANČIŠEK SMERDU: SIXTY YEARS ON

This year’s retrospective exhibition is dedicated to the sculptor Frančišek Smerdu, the creator of the reclining bronze nudes on either side of the Križanke Summer Theatre stage (identical sculptures adorn the staircase in Ljubljana’s Festival Hall). The exhibition consists of a selection of his works chosen by curator Nelida Nemec.

(19 August–6 September, Križevniška Church)

ZAPPA DAY IN LJUBLJANA

Frank Zappa, the often controversial American composer, rock musician, guitarist, singer, leader of The Mothers of Invention, campaigner against censorship and vocal critic of the music industry, produced music in a wide variety of styles. Ensemble Dissonance and conductor Jonathan Stockhammer, who also appeared with them last year (Mahler in Ljubljana),  will bring their interpretive breadth to a selection of Zappa’s works. They will be joined by Vlatko Stefanovski, a guitarist renowned for his unique technique and tone.

(19 August, 8.30 pm, Križanke Summer Theatre)

SVETLANA ZAKHAROVA AND COSTUMES FROM THE HOUSE OF CHANEL

Internationally acclaimed prima ballerina Svetlana Zakharova is famous for thrilling audiences and critics all over the world with her formidable technique and her sparkling dramatic interpretation of classical and contemporary roles. She returns to the Ljubljana Festival after an interval of five years, this time with the double bill Modanse.  She will be joined onstage by a cast of outstanding dancers from the Bolshoi Ballet, including Ildar Gaynutdinov, a star of contemporary dance. The performance will open with the ballet Come un respiro, created for Zakharova by choreographer Mauro Bigonzetti. After the interval comes a dazzling homage to the legendary fashion designer Gabrielle (“Coco”) Chanel, featuring more than 80 costumes from the House of Chanel.

(20 August, 8 pm, Gallus Hall, Cankarjev Dom)

FILM MUSIC PERFORMED BY THE SLOVENE YOUTH ORCHESTRA

Initially strongly influenced by Richard Wagner and his use of leitmotifs – recurring musical phrases associated with a particular character, object or situation – film music later developed into an entirely independent tradition that continues to move listeners throughout the world. This concert at Križanke will give listeners the chance to hear a broad selection of film music and classical and popular excerpts that have featured in some of the most popular animated and live-action films and franchises. The programme will be performed by the Slovene Youth Orchestra under versatile conductor Živa Ploj Peršuh. The Finnish bassist and composer Lauri Porra, the great-grandson of composer Jean Sibelius will appear with the orchestra as soloist.

(21 August, 8.30 pm, Križanke Summer Theatre)

AN EVENING OF MUSIC BY JOHN WILLIAMS

John Williams has created some of the most popular and recognisable film music in the history of cinema, with credits including such classics as the Indiana Jones franchise, Jurassic Park, Schindler’s List, JFK  and Saving Private Ryan. He has won numerous awards for his work, including 26 Grammys, five Oscars, three Emmys and four Golden Globes. With 54 Oscar nominations, he is the most nominated composer and second most nominated person in Academy Awards history, behind Walt Disney. His works will be performed by the Sofia Philharmonic Orchestra and the National Philharmonic Choir under the direction of Nayden Todorov, a big fan of the Star Wars saga.

(22 August, 8.30 pm, Križanke Summer Theatre)

OTO PESTNER’S GREATEST HITS

Over the course of his career Oto Pestner has released more than 45 solo albums, 45 albums with the New Swing Quartet and more than 30 albums with the Alpenoberkrainer (some of which sold more than a million copies). He has also worked on more than 50 other albums by other artists. The RTV Slovenia Big Band will accompany him on a journey through his rich and diverse musical career, taking in original songs that encapsulate specific moments of his past and some of the arrangements that have made the greatest impression on him.

(23 August, 8.30 pm, Križanke Summer Theatre)

CONCERT PRESENTATION OF THE NEW ALBUM BY BOSSA DE NOVO

The current line-up of Bossa de Novo, a group founded in 2003, consists of Primož Vitez, Aljoša Kosor, Mitja Vrhovnik Smrekar, Sergej Randjelovič (aka Runjoe) and Marko Gregorič. They are appearing at the summer festival for the second year in a row, this time with a concert premiering their new album. Once again this year they will be joined by the Brazilian musician César Camargo Mariano, who will accompany them on the piano. He is the recipient of numerous awards, most notably a Latin Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2006.

(26 August, 8.30 pm, Križanke Summer Theatre)

COMMITTED TO STEPS

As the summer holidays draw to an end, it is time once again for the Committed to Steps project’s dance and movement workshops (with final performance) for children undergoing rehabilitation at URI Soča. The Ljubljana Festival is involved in the project alongside Zavarovalnica Sava and URI Soča. In 2023 we broadened our cooperation and invited children from the modern dance programme at the Ljubljana Conservatoire of Music and Ballet to take part in the project. For the second year in a row, the young dancers will be encouraged at this year’s workshops by dance teacher Jana Kovač Valdés.

(27 August, 6 pm, Križanke Summer Theatre)

CONCERT OF OPERA ARIAS WITH JUAN DIEGO FLÓREZ

Ukrainian conductor Oksana Lyniv and Peruvian tenor Juan Diego Flórez return to the summer festival with the RTV Slovenia Symphony Orchestra two years after their last appearance together. Since making his debut in 1996, Flórez has performed at opera houses in Milan, Berlin, Salzburg, New York, Vienna and Zurich, recorded numerous albums and won countless awards. In 2021 Oksana Lyniv became the first female conductor to conduct at the Bayreuth Festival. Since 2022 she has been music director of the Teatro Comunale di Bologna. Cankarjev Dom’s Gallus Hall will resound to a selection of arias by Italian bel canto  composers, Giuseppe Verdi and the latter’s French contemporaries Charles Gounod, Jules Massenet and Jacques Offenbach.

(27 August, 8 pm, Gallus Hall, Cankarjev Dom)

TWO CONCERTS BY THE LONDON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA AND SIR ANTONIO PAPPANO

The first concert will consist of works by Edward Elgar and Gustav Mahler, directed by Sir Antonio Pappano, who takes up the role of chief conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra in the 2024/25 season. Over the course of the past century, the LSO has established itself as one of the world’s great musical institutions. It reaches international audiences with tours, artistic residences, digital partnerships and an extensive programme of live broadcasts. The soloist at the first concert will be the internationally acclaimed violinist Vilde Frang, praised by critics for her recordings of works by major composers. The second evening will open with the Roman Carnival Overture by Hector Berlioz and continue with Frédéric Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 1. The second half of the concert is a rare occasion to hear Gustav Holst’s suite The Planets performed in its entirety. The orchestra will be joined by the Kaunas State Choir, internationally renowned for performances ranging from early music to contemporary works.
The soloist will be Bruce Liu, winner of the last International Chopin Piano Competition in 2021, at which the Slovene pianist Alexander Gadjiev won second prize.

(28 and 29 August, 8 pm, Gallus Hall, Cankarjev Dom)

20 YEARS OF UROŠ PERIĆ

The year 2024 is a special one for the extraordinary musician Uroš Perić because it sees him celebrate twenty years of a remarkable career. To mark the occasion, he will be hosting a special musical treat at the Križanke Summer Theatre, featuring world-famous guests and his loyal RTV Slovenia Big Band conducted by Lojze Kranjčan. Perić’s charisma and top-class performances have won him plaudits from some of the world’s biggest musical names, including Quincy Jones, Sheila Raye Charles, Jacob Collier and Ernie Watts. Musical connoisseurs even compare his piano performances to those of the great Gene Harris.

(30 August, 8.30 pm, Križanke Summer Theatre)

THE ETERNAL VLADO KRESLIN

Slovene singer and author Vlado Kreslin makes his thirty-third appearance at the Ljubljana Festival on 31 August, accompanied by his groups Mali Bogovi and Beltinška Banda and special guest Masayah. In 2020 the famous singer-songwriter was awarded the Ježek Prize in recognition of his outstanding achievements and extensive oeuvre. “Vlado Kreslin is a musician and author, a performer and a troubadour of freedom, multiethnicity, the human community, solidarity and the joy of life,”  wrote the Ježek Prize jury in its citation. “Rather than rehashing his old work or relying on nostalgia,”  continued the citation, “Kreslin keeps surprising us with new songs that are even more spirited than those from decades ago, more optimistic and upbeat in times of crisis in a changing world.”

(31 August, 8.30 pm, Križanke Summer Theatre)

THE MAGNIFICENCE OF ORCHESTRAL SOUND

This year’s summer festival will also be marked by the return of Riccardo Chailly, who appeared at the 61st Ljubljana Festival with the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra. Today he is the music director of Italy’s most famous opera house, the Teatro alla Scala in Milan, and principal conductor of the Filarmonica della Scala, with which he will perform Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 5 in E minor  followed by the two orchestral suites Daphnis and Chloé  by Maurice Ravel, regarded as a master of orchestration.

(2 September, 8 pm, Gallus Hall, Cankarjev Dom)

CLOSING OF THE 72nd LJUBLJANA FESTIVAL. IN GRAND STYLE

The 72nd Ljubljana Festival will be concluded by the Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra under conductor Charles Dutoit, the 103rd recipient of the Royal Philharmonic Society Gold Medal. After opening the concert with the Pelléas et Mélisande  suite, a masterpiece by the proto-Impressionist Gabriel Fauré, Dutoit will be joined onstage by the legendary Martha Argerich, with whom he previously appeared at the 69th Ljubljana Festival in 2021. The Argentine pianist is famous for her performances of the virtuoso piano literature of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
She will perform Maurice Ravel’s ebullient Piano Concerto in G major,  which incorporates the influences of jazz and Basque folk music. Finally, we will hear Antonin Dvořák’s Symphony No. 9 (From the New World).

(3 September, 8 pm, Gallus Hall, Cankarjev Dom)

Thank you for your interest in the Ljubljana Festival programme.

The Ljubljana Festival reserves the right to modify the programme.

Information / Public relations

Tina Berk                                                    Saša Strmšnik
+386 (0)1 241 60 20                                Tel. +386 (0)1 241 60 08
tina.berk@ljubljanafestival.si                pr@ljubljanafestival.si

Maruša Šinkovič
+386 (0)1 241 60 18
marusa.sinkovic@ljubljanafestival.si

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The founder of the Ljubljana Festival is the City of Ljubljana, which also provides financial support. Member of the European Festivals Association (EFA) since 1977.