Bratislava Music Festival

The 59th Bratislava Music Festival will take place from 20 September to 6 October 2024 and will traditionally offer its fans a quality musical experience at great concerts, with a total of 19 concerts in Bratislava and three concerts in the Pieštany House of Arts.

The Cleveland Orchestra

On 5 September the Slovak Philharmonic will host one of the most prestigious orchestras, The Cleveland Orchestra, with top conductor Franz Welser-Möst, the orchestra’s music director since 2002. The Cleveland Orchestra, which has been making history since December 1918, has been named the best in America, if not the world, by The New York Times for its virtuosity, elegance of sound, richness of color, and chamber music’s virtually flawless harmonies.

The famous orchestra has performed in Bratislava only once before, in 1965. On its current 80th international tour, the orchestra will visit six major European music centres: Berlin, Helsinki, Lucerne, Ansfelden, Bratislava and Vienna. The concert in Ansfelden, Anton Bruckner’s hometown, marks the 200th anniversary of the composer’s birth and ties in with the opening of the Bruckner Festival in Linz.

The soloist of the concert is the great Icelandic pianist Víkingur Ólafsson. The exceptional guests of the festival will present Schumann’s Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 54 and Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 5 in E minor, Op. 64.

Opening concert of the 59th BHS

The opening concert of the 59th BHS traditionally belongs to the resident orchestra – the Slovak Philharmonic. Under the baton of SF chief conductor Daniel Raiskin, the Slovak composer’s work – Suite for large orchestra Dolu Váhom by Alexander Moyzes will be performed. The programme will be enlivened by the extraordinary double bass soloist Roman Patkoló with Divertimento concertante by the Italian composer Nino Rota, known primarily as a composer of film and theatre music who did not shy away from the classics.

BHS Extraordinary Concert

THURSDAY 5. 9. 19.30 Concert Hall of the Slovak Philharmonic

The Cleveland Orchestra Franz Welser-Möst

conductor – Franz Welser-Möst
piano – Víkingur Ólafsson

Robert Schumann – Concerto for Piano and Orchestra in A minor, Op. 54
Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Symphony No.5 in E minor, Op. 64
Opening concert of the 59th BHS

Bratislava Music Festival Programme:

FRIDAY 20 September 19.30 Concert Hall of the Slovak Philharmonic

Slovak Philharmonic
Daniel Raiskin – conductor
Roman Patkoló – double bass

Alexander Moyzes – Dolu Váhom, Op. 26
Nino Rota – Divertimento concertante for double bass and orchestra
Dmitri Shostakovich – Symphony No. 9 in E flat major, Op. 70

SATURDAY 21 Sep 16.00 Slovak Philharmonic Column Hall

Quasars Ensemble
Ivan Buffa – conductor
Leo – koto

Zdeněk Folprecht – Concertino for nine instruments, Op. 21
Dai Fujikura – Concerto for Koto
Aaron Copland – Appalachian Spring, suite for thirteen instruments

19.30 Concert Hall of the Slovak Philharmonic

Wiener Symphoniker

Petr Popelka – conductor
Anna Vinnitskaya – piano

Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky – Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No. 1 in B minor, Op. 23
Béla Bartók – Concerto for Orchestra

SUNDAY 22 Sep 19.30 Concert Hall of the Slovak Philharmonic

Armenian National Philharmonic Orchestra
Eduard Topchya – conductor
Stanislav Masaryk – trumpet

Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky – Francesca da Rimini, Symphonic Fantasy, Op. 32
Alexander Arutyunyan – Concerto for Trumpet and Orchestra
Sergei Rachmaninov – Symphony No. 2 in E minor, Op. 27

TUESDAY 24 Sep 19.30 Concert Hall of the Slovak Philharmonic

English Chamber Orchestra
Kaspar Zehnder – conductor
Colin Currie – percussion

Joseph Haydn – Symphony No. 95 in C minor
James MacMillan – Veni, Veni Emmanuel
Peter Maxwell Davis – Farewell to Stromness
Igor Stravinsky – Pulcinella, suite from the ballet

WEDNESDAY 25 September 19.30 Small Hall of the Slovak Philharmonic

Ivan Ženatý – violin
Marian Lapšanský – piano

Antonín Dvořák – Sonatina in G major, Op.100 Sonata for Violin and Piano in F major, Op. 57
Johannes Brahms – Scherzo in C minor from Sonata F-A-E Sonata for Violin and Piano No. 3 in D minor, Op. 108

THURSDAY 26.9. 19.30 Concert Hall of the Slovak Philharmonic

Slovak Philharmonic Slovak Philharmonic Choir
Jaroslav Kyzlink – conductor
Jan Rozehnal – choirmaster

Mária Porubčinová, Jiří Brückler, František Zahradníček, Michal Lehotský, Peter Mikuláš, Aleš Jenis, Alžběta Poláčková, Michaela Zajmi

Bedřich Smetana – Libuše, concert performance of the opera

FRIDAY 27.9. 19.30 Concert Hall of the Slovak Philharmonic

Czech Philharmonic
Semyon Byčkov – conductor
Daniil Trifonov – piano
Antonín Dvořák – Concerto for Piano and Orchestra in G minor, Op. 33

Hector Berlioz – Symphonie Fantastique, Op. 14

SATURDAY 28 Sep 16.00 Small Hall of the Slovak Philharmonic

Concert from the works of Slovak composers

Mucha Quartet
Slovak Brass Quintet
Peter Machajdík, Iris Szeghy, Ladislav Burlas, Marek Piaček, Peter Zagar, Juraj Filas, Milan Novák

19.30 Concert Hall of the Slovak Philharmonic

Žilina State Chamber Orchestra
Lúčnica Choir
Leoš Svárovský – conductor
Elena Matušová – choirmaster
Teo Gertler – violin

Ludwig van Beethoven – Coriolanus, Overture, Op. 62
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart – Concerto for Violin and Orchestra No. 5 in A major
Anton Zimmermann – Missa Solemnis in C

SUNDAY 29 Sep 16.00 Concert Hall of the Slovak Philharmonic

Organ recital by Iveta Apkalna
Bach & Glass

19.30 Slovak Philharmonic Column Hall

Camerata Philharmonica Slovaca
Ondrej Olos – conductor
Bozidara Turzonova – recitation

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart – Serenade No. 10 in B flat major Gran Partita
Maurice Ravel – Introduction and Allegro for harp, flute, clarinet and string quartet
Bohuslav Martinů – Kitchen Revue, concert suite from a jazz ballet for narrator and chamber ensemble

TUESDAY 1. 10. 19.30 Column Hall of the Slovak Philharmonic

Slovak Chamber Orchestra Ewald Danel – artistic director Ján Bogdan – cello
Alexander Moyzes – Musica Istropolitana, concert overture, Op. 73
Pēteris Vasks – Concerto for Cello and String Orchestra No. 2 Présence
Antonín Dvořák – String Quintet No. 2 in G major, Op. 77

WEDNESDAY 2. 10. 19.30 Concert Hall of the Slovak Philharmonic

Alcina – Enchanted Love La Cetra,
Basel Baroque Orchestra
Andrea Marcon – conductor, harpsichord
Magdalena Kožená – mezzo-soprano

Georg Friedrich Händel, Arcangelo Corelli, Alessandro Marcello, Francesco Maria Veracini

THURSDAY 3.10. 19.30 Concert Hall of the Slovak Philharmonic

Korean National Symphony Orchestra
David Reinland – conductor
Sumi Jo – soprano

Arias from operas by Gioachino Rossini, Gaetano Donizetti, Vincenzo Bellini, Giuseppe Verdi Robert Schumann Symphony No. 4 in D minor, Op. 120

FRIDAY 4.10. 19.30 Concert Hall of the Slovak Philharmonic

Barcelona Youth Symphony Orchestra
Carlos Checa – conductor
Ilya Maximov – piano

Sergei Rachmaninov – Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No. 2 in C minor, Op. 18
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov – Spanish Capriccio, Op. 34
Manuel de Falla – The Three-Cornered Hat, Suite No. 2

SATURDAY 5. 10. 19.30 Concert Hall of the Slovak Philharmonic

Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra

Rastislav Štúr – conductor
Astrig Siranossian – cello

Yevgeny Irshai – A chto betyar, overture
Antonín Dvořák – Concerto for Cello and Orchestra in B minor, Op. 104
Anton Bruckner – Symphony No. 4 in E flat major Romantic

Closing concert of the 59th BHS

SUNDAY 6.10. 19.30 Concert Hall of the Slovak Philharmonic

Slovak Philharmonic Slovak Philharmonic Choir
Sylvain Cambreling – conductor
Jan Rozehnal – choirmaster
Catriona Morison – mezzo-soprano
Pavol Bršlík – tenor
Edwin Crossley-Mercer – bass

Hector Berlioz – Romeo and Juliet, Dramatic Symphony, Op. 17

BHS 2024 and tickets.

Venue: Slovak Philharmonic, Eugena Suchoňa Square, Bratislava, Slovakia
Date: from 20.09.2024 – 06.10.2024
Start: at 16:00 and 19:30
Admission: 15 – 40 €

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