Dear music lovers,
The concert season ahead of us with its varied programme and a wide range of guests from all over the world will render our symphonic evenings a proper stage of diversity.
The most significant piece of news that will mark not only this season but also the ones that follow is the inauguration of our new chief conductor Yordan Kamdzhalov. Besides the great concert on the occasion of opening the season with the grandiose Bruckner’s Symphony No. 7, we will also be able to listen to him at the All Saints’ Day concert performing Verdi’s Requiem with our soloists Kristina Kolar, Ivana Srbljan, Aljaž Farasin and Slavko Sekulić. Do not miss the the splendid New Year’s Concerts either, to be taking you on the journey around Europe. We are ending the concert season in June with the romantic Rachmaninoff and the pianist star Michail Lifits, as well as the Symphony No. 5 by Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky.
Among other concerts we are pointing out two of them to be conducted by our principal guest conductor Ville Matvejeff. With the first, in October, we will be marking the hundredth anniversary of birth of the famous American conductor and composer Leonard Bernstein, with the violinist Dan Zhu. At the same concert, it is the first time that we will be able to listen to one of the most significant compositions of the 20th century, that is, Concerto for Orchestra by Bartók. There is the Finnish Evening in May with Jukka Merjanen and Tuomas Ylinen in Double Concerto by Brahms and the Symphony No. 5 by Sibelius. At the beginning of the concert you will be able to become acquainted with Ville Matvejeff also as a composer as we are performing his most successful work Ad Astra!
Korean conductor TaeJung Lee will be our guest again in January. Besides the Horn Concerto No.1 by Richard Strauss with the magnificent Boštjan Lipovšek as a soloist and Symphony No. 5 by Mendelssohn, this concert will also be marked by a first performance; namely, young Italian composer Daniel Espen has written specially for our orchestra the work The Eternal Return. By this order of a new piece we are continuing with the enrichment of musical heritage, at the same time also encouraging young authors.
What we have in March is one of the highlights of the concert season with two special artists. Following the last season’s enthusiasm of of the audience, Philipp von Steinaecker is back, this time with Symphony No. 2 by Brahms and with the Italian pianist Federico Colli as the soloist of the evening. Colli is the winner of the prestigious competition in Leeds and one of the most interesting artists of his generation.
This year as well, we have prepared a varied programme for lovers of chamber music. Double bass soloist of our orchestra Petrush Petrushevski will present himself with Renata Hil on the piano in a diverse programme presenting double bass as a soloist instrument. One of the more interesting chamber concerts will be the one to host the Acoustic Project. The joining of tradition and future, classical and ethno in exciting arrangements will prompt you to reconsider musical canons. Brass & Percussion is a project by Opera Orchestra musicians taking you into the world of film; forget the 4D, the real excitements are waiting for you at the Theatre!
At the Easter Concert, for the first time in Rijeka, we will be able to hear the work of one of the most significant composers of the 20th century, The Seven Last Words of Christ for cello, bayan and strings by Sofia Gubaidulina, being one of her most famous compositions. At the end of our chamber season, our soloists Kristina and Robert Kolar will present themselves as a harmonious duo on the Theatre stage.
A dream concert season!
Petar Kovačić, Opera director
