Christian Schmitt, organ

Programme:
Camillo Schumann, Sonata No. 3 in C minor, Op. 29
Maximilian Schnaus, Signals (from Remote Territories) for Solo Pedal
Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy, Organ Sonata No. 1 in F minor, Op. 65
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Knut Nystedt, Le verbe éternel, Op. 133
Olivier Messiaen, Dieu est simple (Meditation VIII from Neuf méditations sur le mystère de la sainte trinité)

One of the hottest names in the world of organ music is returning to Ljubljana: Christian Schmitt, principal organist and long-time curator of the Bamberg Symphony’s organ series, professor at the Codarts Rotterdam, and artistic director of the Weiwuying Organ Festival in Taiwan, home to Asia’s largest organ. Sought after as a technical consultant for the construction and restoration of organs worldwide, Schmitt regularly appears at the world’s leading concert halls, from Carnegie Hall and Elbphilharmonie to the Berlin Philharmonic and the Musikverein.

This charismatic virtuoso invites us on a sonic journey through the history of organ music, this time without the familiar presence of the Baroque and Johann Sebastian Bach. The richly varied programme ranges from the Romantic expressiveness of Mendelssohn, Camillo Schumann, and Franck, through the spiritual yet innovative experimentalism of Messiaen and the meditative Nordic soundscapes of Nystedt, to the organ avant-garde of Schnaus, reflecting the performer’s desire to explore the new.