The Folk dance group Tine Rožanc of the Railway Artistic and Cultural Society Tine Rožanc celebrates its seventy-fifth anniversary of highly successful activity in the field of folklore this year.

This year's performance unveils the role of the individual in society and community. What impact each individual has on the community and how they can change life within the community are the fundamental questions that shape the concert, which is otherwise wrapped in a veil of Slavic mythology. Slavic gods are incorporated into it, appearing across the broader Slavic region in different time periods. Thus, we can observe various Slavic gods intertwined in a community, whose essence is represented by their dwelling - the tree.

The story takes us from discord beneath the canopies, where disputes among the gods cause the tree's demise, to its rebirth. Through the cyclical nature of birth and death, the gods realize that life is not possible without each individual and their mission.

The central creators of the performance are young Slovenian choreographers, musicians, and costume designers, who have prepared the show under the artistic direction of Nina Mažgon Müller, Nejc Panjan, and Gašper Toman.

The Franc Šturm Music School celebrates its 75th anniversary of establishment and success in the 2023/24 academic year. In honor of this milestone, a gala concert featuring six active school orchestras, a choir, and a percussion ensemble will take place. Over 200 students, representing one fifth of the school's total enrollment, will perform on stage at Gallus Hall.

A partnership between two of the most respected names in the last half century’s highest echelons of jazz. Double bassist Dave Holland and guitarist John Scofield have each made their mark as undisputed masters of their instruments and performers who have defined (and crossed!) many a chapter of the genre. Their joint tour features the two artists’ original compositions with the indispensable sprinkle of jazz standards. Without a doubt unique, compelling, and convincing encounter and a profound musical dialogue of two superb musical minds; Expect virtuosity and depth. 

Direction and choreography: Maki Asami, after Marius Petipa
Rehearsal master and assistant choreographer: Takako Nishikawa
Costume design: Viorica Petrovici
Set design: Adrian Damian
Set design assistants: : Raluca Aionițoaie, Miruna Croitoru 

Running time: 2 hours and 50 minutes, including two intervals

Raymonda is the last great masterpiece of Marius Petipa (1818–1910), one of the world’s most influential choreographers most noted for The Sleeping Beauty, The Nutcracker, and Swan Lake. In consolidating and applying all his skills and experiences, Petipa created a mature choreographic work that continues to be one of his most enduring pieces, thrilling the audiences not only with its challenging choreography that has become one of the ultimate tests of the classical ballerina, but also the dazzling character dances.

The story is set in medieval Provence. At the castle of Doris, preparations are under way for the celebrations of the beautiful young countess Raymonda’s name day. She rejoices in the news that King Andrew II of Hungary, and her fiancé, the noble crusader knight Jean de Brienne, are returning home in triumph. The Saracen knight Abderakhman and his entourage stop at the castle seeking shelter for the night. Captivated by Raymonda's beauty, Abderakhman falls in love with her. Raymonda falls asleep and begins to dream about running into her knight’s arms and the two lovers declaring their love for each other.

The feast in honour of Jean de Brienne's arrival is taking place. Abderakhman approaches Raymonda and reveals his passion for her, but she rejects him with contempt. Abderakhman grabs Raymonda in an attempt to abduct her, but luckily Jean de Brienne arrives just in time.
Jean de Brienne saves Raymonda from the hands of the Saracens and tries to seize Abderakhman. The King commands the two rivals to put an end to the matter in a duel. Abderakhman dies slain by de Brienne's sword. Raymonda joyfully embraces her fiancé and the two reaffirm their love as the King joins their hands, giving the newly wedded couple his blessing. In his honour, everyone at court is dressed in Hungarian fashion and performs a range of Hungarian-style dances.  

While raised on Monteverdi, Bach and Beethoven Josipa devoted herself to rock music in the Sixties and became a singer with the bands O'Hara and Zlatni akordi. With an exceptional singing talent, stunning timbral palette, a vocal range spanning from contralto to soprano, inspired interpretations, as well as her inimitable charisma and stage presence, the Zagreb-born artist quickly rose to rock stardom building up a devoted fan base from all over the former Yugoslavia. 

In the rock milieu she met the love of her life, Karl Metikoš, a well-known vocalist and composer. Their relationship and shared passion for music led to some ten of Josipa’s albums with Karlo as composer, and evergreen lyrics by Ivica Krajač or Alka Vuica. Their first album, Dnevnik jedne ljubavi (Diary of a Love), released in 1973, was the first conceptual album in the former Yugoslavia and is now an essential part of any Yugoslav rock anthology. Last year’s 50th anniversary of this iconic album, which marked a turning point in her career, Josipa Lisac commemorated with a tour of various cities across the former Yugoslavia.

In addition to a passionate commitment to music Josip Lisac expresses her artistic individuality and vision through a refined sense of stage performance and a bold visual style. The costumes and hairstyles complement the stage performance as if the compositions were clothed in theatrical attire. However, the singer is convinced that the costumes must never overshadow a song.
 

Josipa’s repertoire is invariably a mixture of unforgettable melodies and lyrics that have marked several generations in the wider area of the former Yugoslavia. These are the hits of the Eighties; Magla, Hazarder, Danas sam luda, Gdje Dunav ljubi nebo, Kraljica divljine, Ja bolujem and the unforgettable Blijede sijene, Što me čini sretnom, Hir, hir, hir, Ležaj od suza, Ave Maria, Boginja, Ispočetka, O jednoj mladosti, Dok razmišljam o nama and 1000 razloga (1000 Reasons). 

So, a thousand reasons,  not to miss a concert by the unparalleled diva Josipa Lisac.
 

Soloist: Federico Colli, piano

Program:
Ludwig van Beethoven, Piano Concerto No. 5
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Béla Bartók, Concerto for Orchestra

Although the great Beethoven is usually remembered primarily as the most influential symphonist of the transition from Classicism to Romanticism, which marked the entire orchestral output of the nineteenth century, we should not forget his indispensable contribution to the piano repertoire, encompassing thirty-two sonatas, more than twenty bagatelles and variations, and six piano concertos. The fifth and last completed concerto, the so-called Emperor, is imbued with a heroic, almost military charter, which probably accounts for its title. The solo part in this extremely long and demanding, but extraordinarily charming work will be performed by the young Italian virtuoso Federico Colli, who gained access to the world’s most prestigious concert stages after his victories at the International Mozart Competition in Salzburg (2011) and the Leeds International Piano Competition (2012). Colli studied at the Milan Conservatory, the Salzburg Mozarteum and the International Piano Academy in Imola. He nurtures a wide repertoire, which includes the music of the Baroque and Classicism. His second album of recordings of Scarlatti sonatas was selected by Classical Music – BBC Music Magazine as one of the best albums of 2020.

In the era of Classicism and Romanticism, the orchestra often remained in the shade of bravura soloists. Béla Bartók, one of the most original composers of the twentieth century, attempted to remedy this “historical injustice” with his Concerto for Orchestra. As the title suggests, it is a work in which the entire orchestra is displayed as a soloist, with each orchestral instrument being assigned a particularly demanding and interesting role. Bartók’s Concerto for Orchestra therefore boasts an extremely multi-layered texture and full sound, as well as richly diverse musical content. Since its premiere performance in Boston in 1944, it has established itself as one of the most popular works with which symphony orchestras around the world like to demonstrate their technical and artistic perfection. On this occasion, our chief conductor Rossen Milanov will lead us through the challenges of the masterpieces by Bartók and Beethoven.

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Soloist: Tamás Varga, cello

Programme:
BEETHOVEN: Coriolan Overture
SHOSTAKOVICH: Cello Concerto No. 1

BEETHOVEN: Symphony No. 2

For the seventh concert of this year’s Kromatika cycle, we are joined by two excellent Hungarian musicians. The young conductor Martin Rajna took over the position of chief conductor of the Györ Philharmonic Orchestra in 2021. He is also a regular guest at the Hungarian State Opera, where he performed Verdi’s Rigoletto and Lehar’s The Merry Widow last year, as well as appearing with the Hungarian National Philharmonic Orchestra. Rajna studied at the Liszt Academy in Budapest and then at the Liszt University of Music in Weimar. In 2021, he was selected for the educational programme of the Pétro Eötvös Contemporary Music Foundation, where, in addition to Pétro Eötvös, he was mentored by György Kurtág, Fabián Panisello and Magnus Lindberg.

After performing the overture to the tragedy Coriolan by Heinrich Joseph von Collin, which is one of Beethoven’s most frequently performed concert works, Martin Rajna will be joined on stage by his compatriot Tamás Varga. This excellent musician works as the leader of the cellists of both the Vienna Philharmonic and the Vienna State Opera Orchestra. He is also active as a chamber musician and soloist, including the performance of Baroque music on authentic instruments. Among other projects, Varga has recorded all of the Bach’s suites for cello solo. On this occasion, he will perform as a soloist in the First Cello Concerto by Dmitri Shostakovich, a great Russian composer whose creativity was not suppressed even by the hostile Soviet regime.

After the intermission, we return to the opus of the great Ludwig van Beethoven with a performance of his Second Symphony, one of the last works from the composer’s early, youthful period. The youthful spirit is enhanced by the fact that Beethoven included an energetic scherzo in place of the elegant minuet that was the standard third movement of a symphony.

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Programme
Maurice Ravel
Alborada del gracioso

Leonard Bernstein
Suite from the ballet Fancy Free

George Gershwin
Rhapsody in Blue

George Gershwin
Second Rhapsody for Piano and Orchestra

George Gershwin (arr. Robert Russell Bennett)
Porgy and Bess: A Symphonic Picture

The outstanding pianist, conductor and organist Wayne Marshall is considered one of the wittiest and most eccentric interpreters of Gershwin’s music. His temperamental music-making will not leave anyone indifferent.

Soloist: Alexander Gadjiev, piano

Due to objective circumstances concerning the soloist, Alexander Scriabin’s Piano Concerto in F sharp minor, Op. 20 will be performed at the subscription concert SMS 6 instead of Sergei Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 2 in G minor, Op. 16.

Programme
Alexander Scriabin, Piano Concerto in F sharp minor, op. 20

Dmitri Shostakovich, Symphony No. 4 in C major, Op. 43

In 1935, after the huge success of his opera Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District, dark clouds gathered over the celebrated Soviet composer Dmitri Shostakovich, as the opera was not to Stalin’s taste. The young Shostakovich instantly became an undesirable artist, which awakened rebellion and tenacity in him. He created the Fourth Symphony and was preparing for a performance with the Leningrad Philharmonic. Just before the concert, however, the orchestra cancelled the premiere, supposedly because of the composer’s aesthetic and political contamination. Consequently, the symphony did not see the light of day for twenty years. All of this time, the composer somehow concealed the existence of the symphony. When the Leningrad Philharmonic finally performed the symphony, he remarked: “It’s better than I thought. Definitely better than my last symphonies, the Eighth, for instance.”

In the first part of the concert, pianist Alexander Gadjiev will perform with the Slovenian Philharmonic for the first time since his outstanding success at the Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw in 2021. A festival for lovers and connoisseurs of the piano.

Choreography: Jiří Bubeníček
Concept and dramaturgy: Jiří Bubeníček / Nadina Bubeníček Cojocarju
Set design: Aleksandra Ana Buković
Costume design: Nadine Bubeníček Cojocarju
Lighting design: Dalibor Fugošić / Jiří Bubeníček
Video: Fanni Tutek-Hajnal / Nadina Bubeníček Cojocaru
Photographer: Fanni Tutek-Hajnal

Running time: 2 hrs (including an interval) 

A contemporary ballet based on William Shakespeare's play from the 16th century, Romeo and Juliet perfectly captures the rush of being in love and the desire to make that feeling last forever despite daunting circumstances. The story about love and its power has a dark side: violence and chaos, confusion and death. 

The ballet follows Shakespeare’s play Romeo and Juliet with all the main characters and their relationships: the sequence of decisions and events taking place in four days proves to be a roller coaster of emotions that dancers must reenact in just over 90 minutes. Jiří Bubeníček’s dance piece, reflecting his signature choreographic style full of sculpturality, variation and expressiveness, touches every one of us and immortalizes Romeo and Juliet as one of the most popular and iconic narratives in the world of ballet.
 

Jiří Bubeníček, a dancer and choreographer, graduated from the Prague Conservatory for Dance. As one of the winners of the prestigious Prix de Lausanne in 1992, he secured a place in the Hamburg Ballet of John Neumeier, where he became the principal dancer in 1997. Neumeier choreographed the role of Vaslav Nijinsky specifically for him in his ballet "Nijinsky." Jiří proved to be an exceptional dancer in all his roles. Since 1999, he has been involved in independent productions and choreography. Some of his most notable works include "Unerreichbare Orte" for the Hamburg Ballet (2005), "Le Souffle de l’Esprit" for the Zurich Ballet (2007), and "Toccata" for the New York City Ballet (2009). More recently, he has created acclaimed choreographies for the Slovenian National Theatre in Ljubljana, Ballet of the Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb, the Royal Swedish Ballet, Ballet of the Teatro dell'Opera Roma, Nuovo Balletto di Toscana, and the Ballet of La Scala in Milan.