World-famous conductor Zubin Mehta will appear at the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino festival in Florence, Italy on 13 June. He will direct the Orchestra del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, an ensemble that continues to inspire audiences with its innovation.
The programme will consist of “Der Feuerreiter” (The Fire-rider) from the Mörike Lieder by Hugo Wolf, a composer with Slovene roots; Piano Concerto No. 2 in F minor, Op. 21, by Frédéric Chopin; and Symphony No. 7 in D minor, Op. 70, B. 141 by Antonín Dvořák.Also appearing will be the Slovene-Italian pianist Alexander Gadjiev, who last appeared in Ljubljana in 2022, at the 5th Winter Festival, where he was accompanied by the RTV Slovenia Symphony Orchestra directed by the Brazilian conductor Ricardo Castro. The virtuoso pianist won second prize at the XVIII International Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw in 2021 (the most recent edition). We will have the opportunity to hear the winner of that competition, Bruce Liu, at this year’s 72nd Ljubljana Festival, when he appears at Cankarjev Dom on 29 August with the London Symphony Orchestra under conductor Sir Antonio Pappano.
Legendary conductor Zubin Mehta is also set to appear with the Orchestra del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino at three events at this summer’s Ljubljana Festival. The orchestra’s principal conductor from 1985 to 2017, he was later appointed honorary conductor for life. He took his first steps in the world of music under the guidance of his father Mehli Mehta, himself a violinist and conductor. The younger Mehta trained at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna and was soon conducting celebrated orchestras such as the Vienna, Berlin and Israel Philharmonic Orchestras, along with many others. Today he is one of the most sought after conductors in the world. On 8 and 10 July he will conduct the orchestra in two performances of Giuseppe Verdi’s opera Il trovatore, a production by the Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino directed by Stefania Grazioli.On 9 July Mehta will conduct a gala concert consisting of three masterworks by Ludwig van Beethoven: the Egmont Overture, Op. 84, the Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 61 and Symphony No. 7 in A major, Op. 92 – all works from Beethoven’s “heroic period”. He will be joined on stage by the Prešeren Fund Prize winning violinist Lana Trotovšek, praised by critics for her impeccable intonation. All the events will take place at Cankarjev Dom, starting at 8.00 pm.
