ACTIVITY REPORT - Festival Maribor 2011
Slovenia provides the unlikely setting for one of Europe's finest summer festivals. Rating:****
John Allison, The Telegraph (UK)
“Maribor is not a city with which you would normally associate classical music of the highest quality – that accolade is normally reserved for illustrious places such as Berlin, Vienna, London or New York. But for a few days in early September, Maribor was indeed a city of excellence in all ways imaginable.”
Gerald Fenech, Music and Vision
Festival Maribor – a celebration of art and beauty in a warm and friendly city of great beauty, brilliant cuisine, and fine local wines: a feast for the senses!
Peter Beveridge, Classical Destinations
Festival Maribor brings an array of top class musicians and the adventurous, offbeat programming, signed by Artistic Director Richard Tognetti. The virtuoso violinist and charismatic director of the Australian Chamber Orchestra is praised all over the world for his innovative programming and fresh approach to music, whether it be classical symphony, jazz standard or ancient ethnic tune. Under his leadership, the festival with 50 years of tradition evolved into a vibrant, exciting laboratory for artistic experimentation, exploring new ways of cross-cultural exchange. Festival programs prepared, rehearsed and premiered on the spot, offer visitors both thrilling, ´once-in-a-lifetime´ combinations of acclaimed European soloists as well as rare and exclusive chance to peek ´behind the scenes´, beyond the usually well shattered backstage-door, thus becoming witness and part of art-making.
Maribor Festival 2011: September 1st - September 11th
17 main events
Morning Reflections Series – chamber music matinees featuring various ensembles and programs reaching beyond the traditional repertoire,
Rush Hour Concert Series – short, one hour, afternoon concerts showcasing various music genres: fresh, invigorating and full of delightful surprises.
Evening concerts – featuring various orchestras, ensembles and acclaimed soloists, such as the pianist Dejan Lazić, cellists Giovanni Sollima and Monika Leskovar, violinists Richard Tognetti and Satu Vänskä, and flautist Giovanni Antonini with his celebrated ensemble il Giardino Armonico and many others.
The Maribor Festival Orchestra is formed by acclaimed international soloists and members of renowned European orchestras.
Every year a multimedia project combining music with visual arts brings one of festival’s highlights. The theme of 2011 edition will be the one of ´Nothingness´. How does is sound like? How do you play it? Could it be played at all? A thrilling musical exploration unfolds many questions and surely brings quite a few unexpected answers.