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
*
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.

Komorni zbor Megaron / Megaron Chamber Choir
Damijan Močnik, choral conductor

Baročni orkester Megaron / Megaron Baroque Orchestra
Maria Lindal, concertmaster

Soloists: 
Thomas Köll, Evangelist
Olle Persson, Jesus

Jeanette Köhn, soprano
Barbara Kozelj, alto
Martin Logar, tenor
Jakob Högström, bass

Programme:
Johann S. Bach, St Matthew Passion, BWV 244

Undeniably one of the most challenging and daring works in the Western musical canon, Bach’s musical masterpiece is also among the most sublime expressions of humanity’s religious devotion and spiritual testimony. Profound theological and mystical symbolism, dramatic biblical narrative, and psychological insight transcend the roots of 18th-century Lutheran liturgical music to create a testament to conscience, compassion, courage, acceptance, and hope.

This timeless musical meditation of epic proportions will be brought to life by leading local musicians alongside a distinguished ensemble of international soloists. The Megaron Chamber Choir, winner of the Kathaumixw 2025 in Canada, under the direction of the exceptional conductor and internationally renowned composer Damijan Močnik, joins forces with the Megaron Baroque Orchestra, an ensemble specialising in historically informed performance practice.
 

Programme:
Joseph Haydn, Piano Sonata No. 31 in A-flat Major, Hob. XVI: 46
Toru Takemitsu, Rain Tree Sketch II
Claude Debussy, L'Isle Joyeuse
*
Franz Liszt, Années de pèlerinage I (Suisse), S. 160
Les cloches de Genève (Nocturne) 
Orage 
Robert Schumann, Piano Sonata No. 1 in F-sharp minor, Op. 11

Piano virtuoso Alexander Gadjiev, ambassador for the European Capital of Culture 2025 in Nova Gorica, consolidated his place among the leading pianists of his generation by taking second prize at the prestigious International Chopin Piano Competition and winning the Sydney International Piano Competition. A BBC New Generation Artists artist from 2019 to 2021 and recipient of the Italian Critics’ Best Soloist Award, Gadjiev combines the determination of a mature artist with an analytical and intellectual approach, captivating audiences through deeply personal musical insight.

These qualities are fully reflected in the announced programme, which unfolds a broad and stylistically varied palette of colours, moods, and impressions with distinctive artistry. Haydn’s playfulness and elegance give way to Takemitsu’s tribute to Messiaen, immersed in an echo of silence before dissolving into Debussy’s dance-like ecstasy. Subtle nostalgia, the delicate ringing of bells, and Liszt’s dynamically nuanced programmatic use of key in his piano miniatures ultimately culminate in the majestic discord between Schumann’s alter egos.
 

Programme:
Monsieur Crescendo, Selected songs by Gioachino Rossini

L'âme délaissée
Adieux à la vie, an elegy from the Péchés de vieillesse collection: Vol. II., No. 9
Roméo, from the Péchés de vieillesse collection: Vol. II., No. 2
Rien No.11, for piano, from the Péchés de vieillesse collection: Vol. XII. 

Au chevet d'un Mourant, elegy from the Péchés de vieillesse collection: Vol. III., No. 8
L'ultimo ricordo, elegy from the Péchés de vieillesse collection: Vol. I., No. 4
L'esule, arietta from the Péchés de vieillesse collection: Vol. III., No. 2
*
Rien No. 21, for piano, from the Péchés de vieillesse collection: Vol. XII.
Chansonette de cabaret (‘Le lazzarone’), from the Péchés de vieillesse collection: Vol. II., No. 8
L'invito, from the Les soirées musicales collection
Nizza 
Barcarole, for piano, from the Péchés de vieillesse collection: Vol. VI., No. 8
L'orgia, from the Les soirées musicales collection
Addio ai Viennesi
 

Operatic star Michael Spyres – arguably the only active baritenor today – moves with astonishing ease between tenor and baritone roles across an extraordinary three-octave range, from warm low registers to rich high notes. Artistic director of the Ozarks Lyric Opera and recipient of the 2024 Oper!, 2024 Opus Klassik, and 2022 Gramophone Awards, Spyres also shines on the concert stage – in recent years in musical partnership with the sensitive accompanist and virtuoso pianist Mathieu Pordoy, an indispensable artist in both concert and operatic settings, onstage and behind the scenes alike.

An engaging and varied programme showcases the full timbral range of this remarkable singer’s artistry, unveiling the lesser-known yet abundant chamber oeuvre of the operatic giant Gioachino Rossini – “Monsieur Crescendo” – while exploring the myriad nuances of his intimate musical world, suffused with subtle humour, tenderness, and profound humanity.

Programme:
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Fantasia in D minor, K. 397 (completed by D. Lazić) 
Quintet for Piano and Winds in E-flat Major, K. 452 
*
Serenade No. 10 ("Gran Partita") in B-flat Major, K.361/370a

Dejan Lazić, piano; Tom Owen, oboe; Tevž Kupljenik, oboe; Ognjen Popović, clarinet; Urška Zupan, clarinet; Maximiliano Martín, basset horn; Andraž Golob, basset horn; Hanno Dönneweg, bassoon; Eva Fritz, bassoon; Boštjan Lipovšek, horn; Sebastijan Buda, horn; Jernej Cigler, horn; Michael Armbruster, horn; Iztok Hrastnik, double bass

Boštjan Lipovšek, one of Slovenia’s most prominent musicians and the creative force behind the special Mozart! project, has assembled an impressive ad hoc ensemble featuring some of today’s most compelling international artists, including two Slovenian members of the Vienna and the Berlin Philharmonics – Iztok Hrastnik and Andraž Golob, respectively. The programme presents Mozart in all his originality and imaginative splendour – inspired by the improvisatory spirit and the rich melodic and harmonic fabric of the introspective Fantasia, the pianist Dejan Lazić, one of the most distinctive and unconventional soloists of his generation, has penned a brilliant conclusion to the fragmentarily completed work.

The refined Quintet for Piano and Winds explores the virtuosic extremes of the piano alongside the expressive possibilities of the winds, masterfully balancing chamber music and the concertante style. Equally masterful is the monumental Gran Partita – renowned for its symphonic scope, richly textured sonorities, and majestic sublimity – which enriches the wind ensemble with the addition of a double bass.

Programme:
Ludwig van Beethoven, Cello Sonata No. 3 in A Major, Op. 69
Dmitri Shostakovich, Cello Sonata in D minor, Op. 40
*
César Franck, Sonata in A Major (arr. J. Delsart)

Once a protégé of the renowned Yehudi Menuhin and Mstislav Rostropovich, and today a leading cellist with a burgeoning conducting career, Marc Coppey is the recipient of the French honorary title “Officier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres”, a sought-after music educator, and artistic director of both the Les Musicales de Colmar and the state-of-the-art music education centre Saline Royale Academy in Arc-et-Senans, France.
Playing a 1711 Matteo Goffriller cello, he will engage in a musical dialogue with Andrew von Oeyen – an incisive pianist of artistic elegance and brilliant technique, and an exclusive Warner Classics artist – who crowned his enviable international concert career with a debut at the prestigious Carnegie Hall in 2025.

Presented in collaboration with Cellofest Ljubljana, the concert highlights some of the pinnacles of the cello repertoire – Beethoven’s epic heroism encapsulated in sonata form, one of Shostakovich’s most elegant and romantic scores, and Franck’s journey of the soul woven into cyclical unity.

In cooperation with Cellofest Ljubljana

Programme:
Giacomo Puccini, I Crisantemi
Niccolò Paganini (arr. Giuseppe Vaccaro), Violin Concerto No. 4 in D minor, MS 60
*
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Souvenir de Florence, Op.70

The Academy of St Martin in the Fields, a chamber orchestra with an extensive discography and the first – and to date the only – orchestra to receive the prestigious Queen’s Award for Export Achievement, has been shaping its contemporary artistic identity since 2011 under the leadership of its music director, the virtuoso Joshua Bell. Directing the orchestra from the violin, Augustin Hadelich is winner of the 2025 Opus Klassik Award and Artist-in-Residence with the Boston Symphony Orchestra for the 2025/26 season. A regular guest of the world’s leading orchestras, most notably the Berlin and Vienna Philharmonics, Hadelich combines poetic sensitivity and a richly varied sonic palette with unparalleled technical brilliance and compelling stage elegance.

The thoughtfully curated programme highlights the refined expressiveness and nuanced artistry of the guest musicians – from a brief, melancholic lament by one of history’s greatest opera composers, through the fiery dance of strings by the “Devil’s Violinist”, to the romantic echoes of Tuscany imbued with Tchaikovsky’s unmistakable signature.

Soloist: Nemanja Radulović, violin

Programme:
Bernd Richard Deutsch, Con moto
Sergei Prokofiev, Violin Concerto No.2 in G minor, Op. 63 
*
Johannes Brahms, Symphony No.4 in E minor, Op. 98

Nominated for a 2025 Grammy Award and recipient of numerous Opus Klassik and ICMA awards, the ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra is among the leading ensembles dedicated to contemporary music, enriching both Austrian and international musical life. Markus Poschner, principal conductor of the Bruckner Orchestra Linz and the Basel Symphony Orchestra, will assume the position of principal conductor beginning with the 2026/27 season. Commanding a charismatic presence on both the concert platform and the operatic stage, Poschner ranks among today’s most sought-after conductors. The 2024 ICMA Award for Special Achievement further attests to his artistic distinction.

The brilliance of the guest artists is further enhanced by the free-spirited virtuoso Nemanja Radulović. One of the most compelling violinists of our time, the classical musician with a rock-star image is the winner of the 2024 Opus Klassik Award and a recipient of the prestigious “Chevalier de l’ordre des Arts et des Lettres” distinction awarded by the French Ministry of Culture.

In a richly varied programme showcasing the orchestra’s excellence, Deutsch’s playful virtuosity meets Prokofiev’s irony – imbued with radiant lyricism and woven into an expansive cantilena – alongside the mastery of Brahms, cast in tones of tragedy, grandeur, and timelessness.

Soloists: Lucienne Renaudin Vary, trumpet and Mojca Bitenc Križaj, soprano
Narrator: Aleš Valič

Programme:
Felix Mendelssohn Bartoldy, Hebrides, Overture, Op. 26 
Joseph Haydn, Trumpet Concerto in E-flat Major, Hob. VIIe/1
*
Ludwig van Beethoven, Incidental Music to Goethe's “Egmont”, Op. 84*

* An abridged version of the tragedy Egmont for oratorio performance by Tilmann Böttcher and Matthias Brandt, based on the original text by J. W. von Goethe

Blending tradition, intellectual acuity, and a contemporary artistic outlook, the Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra makes its Ljubljana debut. Founded in 1945, the orchestra boasts a distinguished recording legacy and an award-winning educational programme that sets high standards for future generations. Now embarking on its seventh season under the leadership of one of today’s most prominent musical personalities – conductor, violinist, and chamber musician Thomas Zehetmair – the ensemble continues to cultivate a distinctive artistic profile.

The programme presents two highlights. The first celebrates the nobility and refinement of Classicism through the artistry of Lucienne Renaudin Vary – recipient of the prestigious title “Opus Klassik Instrumentalist of the Year 2025” and a virtuoso of exceptional musicality. Marking the 200th anniversary of Beethoven’s death, the incidental music to Goethe’s Egmont will, according to our research, be performed in Slovenian for the first time in oratorio form. Original excerpts woven into the thoughtfully conceived dramaturgy allow audiences to follow the drama’s progression with clarity, while simultaneously creating a sensory connection between the work’s ten musical movements. The guest orchestra will be joined by two outstanding Slovenian artists – soprano Mojca Bitenc Križaj and actor Aleš Valič.

Goethe's and Beethoven's Egmont
In the mid-sixteenth century, the historical Lamoral, Count of Egmont was a general and one of the most influential statesmen in the Spanish Habsburg Netherlands. Though a loyal subject of Philip II of Spain and a devout Catholic who persecuted Protestant iconoclasts, he nevertheless opposed the introduction of the Inquisition and the persecution of Dutch Protestants. Seeking to make an example of him before his rebellious Dutch subjects, the king accused Egmont of high treason and, following a dubious trial led by his envoy, the Duke of Alba, had him sentenced to death by beheading. Egmont’s execution became one of the catalysts for the so-called Eighty Years' War, which ultimately led to Dutch independence from Spanish rule.

Some two hundred years later, the life story of Egmont inspired Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, by then already an established poet and playwright. Goethe was particularly struck by Egmont’s historically attested decision not to flee from the advancing army of the Duke of Alba despite the pleas and warnings of his friends, but instead to place unwavering faith in the king’s justice and advocate a peaceful resolution to the conflict. Though such a stance may appear politically naïve, Goethe – perhaps influenced by the emerging concept of the nation state – recognised in Egmont the heroism of a noble man willing to sacrifice himself for the freedom of his people.
Goethe also incorporated another dimension of freedom into the play: personal liberty that disregards social conventions and permits a romantic relationship between a nobleman and a commoner. The fictional character of Clärchen – Egmont’s great love – initially embodies this ideal of freedom. Yet in Egmont’s dream visions, as he confronts his imminent death in the final act, she comes to represent a universal symbol of liberty.

Goethe wrote his “tragedy in five acts” intermittently over a period of twelve years; it was published in 1788 and first staged the following year. He had already envisaged the musical accompaniment himself, as evidenced both by the stage directions in certain parts of the play and by the instructions contained in a letter to a composer friend, whom he had asked to write music for a production of Egmont. The music has not survived, nor is there any evidence that it was ever performed.

A good twenty years later, Ludwig van Beethoven received an invitation from the Burgtheater in Vienna to compose original music for a production of Goethe’s play. The composer gladly accepted the commission, as Goethe’s ideas aligned closely with his own political views, which had become more radical after 1804, when Napoleon proclaimed himself Emperor of France, to the bitter disappointment of many – Beethoven among them – who had regarded him as the embodiment of democratic ideals.
The production, featuring a full symphony orchestra, received its premiere in June 1810.

In the Slovenian language, Egmont has received two major stagings, both at the Drama National Theatre in Ljubljana, in 1896 and 1950. The latter production, directed by Branko Gavella, incorporated live music performed by the Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Jakov Cipci. Gavella’s rendition was something of an exception, however, as the tendency among drama theatres to stage Goethe’s text in its entirety, accompanied by Beethoven’s music, was already in marked decline. Consequently, the music gradually took on a life of its own; in an effort to preserve its connection to Goethe’s play, a number of linking texts were created to bridge the individual movements and dramatic passages. Performances of Beethoven’s Egmont music in this form came to be described as “oratorio-style”.

The performance at Cankarjev dom uses a narrative text created in 2019 to mark the 250th anniversary of Beethoven’s birth in 2020 for the Beethoven Orchestra Bonn by the orchestra’s dramaturg, Tilmann Böttcher, and the renowned actor Matthias Brandt, who also narrated the text. Unlike other versions, theirs consists exclusively of excerpts from Goethe’s play, abridged and dramaturgically adapted to engage even audiences not fully conversant with the details of Goethe’s story.

Mojca Kranjc

Soloist: Daniil Trifonov, fortepiano

Programme:
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Adagio and Fugue in C minor, K. 546 
Ludwig van Beethoven (orch. Reinhard Goebel), Piano Concerto in E-flat Major, WoO. 4
*
Ludwig van Beethoven, Grosse Fuge in B-flat Major, Op. 133
Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, Symphony in E minor, Wq 178 (H.653) 
Ludwig van Beethoven, Rondeau for Piano and Orchestra in B-flat Major, WoO 6  

Newcomers to Ljubljana, yet already among the leading interpreters of historically informed performance practice on the international music scene, the Berlin Baroque Soloists (1995) are an ensemble of virtuosos dedicated to the music of the 17th– and 18th–centuries and are also members of the prestigious Berlin Philharmonic. The unique and inimitable sound of period performance emerges in a style that transcends centuries, placing the music of the past in the light of the present. Named “Ensemble of the Year 2024” (Opus Klassik) and winners of the 2019 Classical Music Award, the ensemble’s collaborations with world-class musicians further testify to their eminence. Among these luminaries is Daniil Trifonov – an exclusive Deutsche Grammophon artist, winner of a 2018 Grammy Award, and one of the foremost virtuosos of contemporary musical life.

The evening’s dazzling programme dusts the cobwebs off rarely heard works, including an extraordinary example of Mozart’s late compositional excellence and a lesser-known testament to the brilliance and genius of C. Ph. E. Bach, while placing Beethoven’s legacy at its heart – culminating in a youthful piano concerto orchestrated by Reinhard Goebel, artistic director and a living legend of early music. Daniil Trifonov will demonstrate his interpretive acumen on a period-authentic historical fortepiano, providing a unique sonic backdrop.