Season
2024/25
Mainly Vocal Programme
On the Wings of Words
Through words and music, the Slovenian Philharmonic Choir will lead you to a deeper experience with the concerts of the subscription series MVP – Mainly Vocal Programme. The word itself has extraordinary power, and supported by melody it touches the depths of the soul. Over and over again, we each experience a range of emotions – from sorrow to joy, from melancholy to longing, from hatred to love – and with the right music we are able to relive every nuance. You are warmly invited to the world on the wings of words.
New Orchestral Works
Let’s Listen Differently
The twentieth century was a time of turbulent change. It was marked by events such as the two world wars and man’s landing on the moon. Today, in the twenty-first century, we are battling pandemics, the Earth is polluted and global warming seems unstoppable. These and other current topics are reflected in the compositions of the subscription series NOW – New Orchestral Works. Each concert is complemented by two accompanying events: SIM – Saturday Insights into Music and a post-concert gathering. When listened to differently, each concert will make a profound impression on the memory.
Big Subscription
By purchasing a Big Subscription, you can attend all sixteen concerts of the three subscription series performed by the Slovenian Philharmonic in Cankarjev dom – SMS, PC and NOW – at a very affordable price.
The Big Subscription includes a seat in the SMS subscription series (Thursday or Friday), a seat in the PC subscription series (Thursday or Friday) and a seat in the NOW subscription series. When purchasing Big Subscription seats, subscribers must choose the same category of seat in all three subscriptions (SMS, PC and NOW).
Philharmonic Classics
In the Embrace of Beauty
The concerts of the subscription series PC – Philharmonic Classics present the noble masterpieces of the Viennese classics, complemented by works of various stylistic periods. The concert programmes consist of compositions in which beauty, playfulness, refinement, harmony and temperament coexist idyllically.
Symphonic Masterpieces Series
In a Whirlwind of Emotions
With its opulent palette of sound colours, the large symphony orchestra will draw us into a whirlwind of diverse emotional moods at the concerts of the subscription series SMS – Symphonic Masterpieces Series. The concert programmes will mainly comprise the music of high Romanticism, complemented by works by Prokofiev, Stravinsky and Slovenian composers Demetrij Žebre and Peter Kopač.
Vocal-Instrumental Programme
The Sound of Coexistence
From the late Renaissance to the present day, the period during which singing and instrumental music have coexisted, the most beautiful and weighty works have been created for choir and orchestra, often representing the peak of the creative work of individual composers. Vocal-instrumental compositions speak to us with a special expressiveness, which is reflected in their great popularity. In the subscription series VIP – Vocal-Instrumental Programme, the Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra and Choir will revive some of the most glorious moments in the history of music with the sound of coexistence.
Young Ears Series
Stories
The music of the subscription series YES! – Young Ears Series will tell a variety of stories. We will shorten Saturday mornings for families and the youngest audience at the Slovenian Philharmonic, and you will learn a lot of interesting things through music.
Saturday Insights into Music
TV
Listen remotely
Watch live concerts, with a delay in the comfort of a home armchair
Music, Aways New
But still our Existence enchants us; from a hundred sources
Being wells up. A play of pure energies, which
No one encounters who does not kneel and marvel.
Words even now go forth with tenderness into the inexpressible …
And music, ever renewed, from the most tremulous of stones,
Constructs in waste spaces her deified dwelling.
Rainer Maria Rilke: Sonnet No. 10 from Book II of the cycle The Sonnets to Orpheus, translated by Robert Temple
Four years have passed since I took over the role of host at the concerts of the Slovenian Philharmonic. Attending the concerts is one of my essential tasks. At them, I keep a close eye on the performances of both artistic ensembles, but at the same time I have an opportunity to meet and observe the audience. I monitor how you, our valued guests, feel at our concerts, what appeals to you and also what bothers you. Keenly aware that our audience is very diverse and has a broad range of tastes and expectations, I try to ensure that everyone, both listeners and performers, is enriched with a new experience, new reflection and, last but not least, new pleasure with each concert event.
I am happy to note that the number of concertgoers attending the concerts of the Slovenian Philharmonic has been increasing rapidly in the last two years. Moreover, an increasing number of you want to follow several different subscription series. We have therefore prepared a range of offers enabling you to purchase two or even three subscription series at a very favourable price. Thus, for the first time, the Slovenian Philharmonic is offering the option of purchasing a Big Subscription at a particularly affordable price. This subscription will allow you to attend all of the concerts of the SMS, PC and NOW subscriptions.
We have prepared a very special surprise for subscribers who purchase a Big Subscription before 1 June 2024. All those who have already become “big subscribers” by that date will be offered a trip to Vienna to attend a concert by the Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra and pianist Alexander Gadjiev, which will take place on Wednesday 19 June 2024 in the famous Golden Hall of Vienna’s Musikverein.
But the upcoming concert season will not only be about shopping and travelling, it will also be about celebration. At the first concert of the New Orchestral Works subscription series, we will pay tribute to two honorary members of the Slovenian Philharmonic, Lojze Lebič and Vinko Globokar, both of whom celebrate their 90th birthday this year. To mark this occasion, the Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra and Choir will perform key works by these great masters, as well as new works dedicated to the celebrants penned by representatives of the younger generation of Slovenian composers, Nana Forte and Matej Bonin. In this way, we want to demonstrate our respect and admiration for the two distinguished elder composers on the occasion of their venerable jubilee, and to show our gratitude for all the new paths and perspectives they have revealed to us through their many years of artistic creation. It will be a celebration of Slovenian music that should not be missed!
There is one more honorary member of the Slovenian Philharmonic who should not be overlooked in the coming season. To be precise, he is an honorary member of the Slovenian Philharmonic’s predecessor, the Philharmonic Society, which was established in 1794. I am referring to Johannes Brahms, whose magnificent orchestral music will mark the entire Philharmonic Classics subscription series in the 2024/25 season. All four of Brahms’ symphonies and both of his piano concertos will be performed in the series, enabling us a truly detailed and in-depth insight into the wonderful music of this great German Romantic.
The new season brings even more gratifying innovations with regard to our conductors. In recent times, many new conductors have appeared with the Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra and Choir. Cooperation with some of them has deepened to such an extent that they have been chosen as our regular guest conductors. In fact, two of them will even become our principal conductors in the 2024/25 season. For this position, the choir has chosen the excellent English choral conductor Stephen Layton, while the orchestra has selected the extraordinary young Kakhi Solomnishvili from Georgia. With several diverse concerts, both of these artists will make a strong impression on the upcoming concert season and will ensure the further artistic growth of both ensembles with their regular work. I would like to extend a warm welcome to both of them and to assure them that they will be standing in front of an excellent choir, an excellent orchestra and an increasingly numerous and appreciative audience.
In the coming season, we have a lot of beautiful, new and good things awaiting us. I hope that as many of you as possible will have an opportunity to enjoy everything that good music has to offer. At the same time, please do not keep the good news a secret from your loved ones, friends and acquaintances. Bring them to the Slovenian Philharmonic and Cankarjev dom so that they too will experience the pleasures of music.
Matej Šarc
General Director of the Slovenian Philharmonic and Artistic Director of the Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra