Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra - Orange 7

Programme:
Matija Bravničar, Divertissement for piano and string orchestra
Lucijan Marija Škerjanc, Concertino for piano and string orchestra
Sergei Rachmaninoff, Symphony No. 1 in D minor, Op. 13

The media often refer to Nil Venditti as the youngest established female Italian conductor, while Turkish pianist and composer Fazıl Say remarked about her: "I bet she will become one of the best conductors of this century! We can recognise her talent instantly.” After studying the cello at the conservatory in Perugia, she commenced further studies in conducting at the L'Aquila Conservatory, and she is currently a postgraduate student at the Zurich University of the Arts in the class of Johannes Schlaefli.
Nil Venditti charmed the Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra and audience for the first time with her performance in last year's Blue Subscription Series. We will have another opportunity to convince ourselves of her charisma and musicality in the present programme, which will feature two works by Slovenian composers and a symphony by a Russian master known mainly for his piano concertos.
Divertissement was described by Matija Bravničar, one of Slovenia’s first symphonists, as a symphonic painting for piano and strings. Concertino for Piano and Orchestra is an attractive, colourful and moody post-Romantic work by one of the most important figures of twentieth century Slovenian music, Lucijan Marija Škerjanc. We are always proud to be able to invite one of Slovenia’s young performers to collaborate. On this occasion, the role of solo pianist will be taken by Urban Stanič, who won second place in the competition for the Eurovision Young Musician (2014), apart from being awarded the Škerjanc Prize (2015) and winning the Yamaha Slovenia Competition (2017). In addition, he has also won state competitions in chess, mathematics and logic. Among his numerous performances, particular mention should be made of his appearance with the Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra at the 2015 New Year's concert.
Sergei Rachmaninoff’s First Symphony is a rarely performed work, especially compared with his popular compositions for piano and orchestra. On its first performance, despite being conducted by Alexander Glazunov, the work met with crushing reviews and was poorly received by the audience. The young Rachmaninoff started composing again only three years later, but his subsequent works erased the bad impression of his initial failure and brought the composer international fame.