2025 SYMPHONIC SEASON – TEATRO G. VERDI, TRIESTE
From 11 September to 23 December 2025
Programme
1st Concert
Thursday 11 September 2025 – 7:30 p.m.
Conductor HARTMUT HAENCHEN
Piano VADYM KHOLODENKO
Johannes Brahms Piano Concerto No. 2 in B-flat major, Op. 83
Johannes Brahms Symphony No. 4 in E minor, Op. 98
ORCHESTRA OF THE FONDAZIONE TEATRO LIRICO GIUSEPPE VERDI, TRIESTE
Concert in collaboration with the SOCIETÀ DEI CONCERTI DI TRIESTE within the framework of the NUOVO FESTIVAL DI TRIESTE
2nd Concert
Sunday 14 September 2025 – 7:30 p.m.
Conductor LUKA HAUSER
Piano JAN LISIECKI
Ludwig van Beethoven Coriolan Ouverture – incidental music in C minor, Op. 62
Ludwig van Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 5 in E-flat major, Op. 73 ‘Emperor’
Ludwig van Beethoven Symphony No. 5 in C minor, Op.67
ORCHESTRA OF THE FONDAZIONE TEATRO LIRICO GIUSEPPE VERDI, TRIESTE
Concert in collaboration with the SOCIETÀ DEI CONCERTI DI TRIESTE within the framework of the NUOVO FESTIVAL DI TRIESTE
3rd Concert
Monday 22 September 2025 – 7:30 p.m.
Conductor PINCHAS STEINBERG
Soprano ANA MARIA LABIN
Mezzo-soprano DENIZ UZUN
Tenor ANTONINO SIRAGUSA
Baritone GEZIM MYSHKETA
Ludwig van Beethoven Symphony No. 9 in D minor for soloists, chorus and orchestra, Op.125
ORCHESTRA AND CHORUS OF THE FONDAZIONE TEATRO LIRICO GIUSEPPE VERDI, TRIESTE
ORCHESTRA AND CHORUS OF THE MARIBOR THEATRE
4th Concert
Sunday 28 September 2025 – 6:00 p.m.
Conductor ENRICO CALESSO
FEDELI D’AMORE
Staged oratorio for two voices, chorus and orchestra
Music by Giorgio Battistelli
Text by Arnaldo Colasanti based on works by Claudio Magris
New commission by the Fondazione Teatro Lirico Giuseppe Verdi di Trieste
ORCHESTRA AND CHORUS OF THE FONDAZIONE TEATRO LIRICO GIUSEPPE VERDI, TRIESTE
5th Concert
Saturday 4 October 2025 – 6:00 p.m.
Conductor ARIF DADASHEV
Cello ETTORE PAGANO
Sergei Prokofiev Sinfonia Concertante in E minor for cello and orchestra, Op. 125
Modest Mussorgsky Night on Bald Mountain (arr. by Rimsky-Korsakov)
ORCHESTRA OF THE FONDAZIONE TEATRO LIRICO GIUSEPPE VERDI, TRIESTE
6th Concert
Friday 17 October 2025 – 7:30 p.m.
Conductor DANIEL OREN
Piano ALEXANDER GADJIEV
Sergei Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor, Op. 18
Ludwig van Beethoven Symphony No. 7 in A major, Op. 92
ORCHESTRA OF THE FONDAZIONE TEATRO LIRICO GIUSEPPE VERDI, TRIESTE
In collaboration with FVG ORCHESTRA
7th Concert
Friday 24 October 2025 – 7:30 p.m.
Conductor ENRICO CALESSO
Violin GIUSEPPE GIBBONI
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Romeo and Juliet, fantasy-overture in B minor
Niccolò Paganini Violin Concerto No. 2, Op. 7
Richard Strauss Aus Italien, symphonic fantasy in G major, Op. 16
ORCHESTRA OF THE FONDAZIONE TEATRO LIRICO GIUSEPPE VERDI, TRIESTE
8th Concert
Tuesday 23 December 2025 – 7:30 p.m.
Conductor GIULIO PRANDI
Soprano ALINA TKACHUK
Mezzo-soprano MICHELA GUARRERA
Tenor CHUAN WANG
Bass ALESSANDRO RAVASIO
Gioachino Rossini Petite Messe Solennelle for soloists, chorus and orchestra
ORCHESTRA AND CHORUS OF THE FONDAZIONE TEATRO LIRICO GIUSEPPE VERDI, TRIESTE
Chorus master PAOLO LONGO
With eight concerts—featuring a new commission by Giorgio Battistelli, the return of Daniel Oren to the symphonic stage, and a host of outstanding soloists and conductors rarely featured in Italian programmes—the Verdi Symphonic Season returns on 11 September. It stands out as one of the city’s most anticipated cultural events, defying national trends and offering a prominent stage for the orchestra’s growing excellence.
The season opens on 11 September, delving into the heart of the Romantic repertoire with Brahms and the multi-award-winning Ukrainian pianist Vadym Kholodenko—once a child prodigy, now a regular on the world’s top stages. On the podium, 82-year-old Hartmut Haenchen, one of the last great custodians of the German symphonic tradition: born in Dresden, a leading figure of former East Germany with a prestigious past at the Berliner Philharmoniker and the Concertgebouw, and now a living archive of the sound and spirit that helped shape European musical culture.
Then, on 14 September, in what feels like a dialogue between two expressions of Central European symphonic art, the young conductor Luka Hauser—First Kapellmeister and Assistant to Cornelius Meister at the Stuttgart Staatsoper—will present an all-Beethoven programme with piano star Jan Lisiecki, a multi-award-winning artist who, from an early age, has been chosen by conductors such as Abbado, Pappano and Harding.
These first two concerts once again continue the successful collaboration with the SOCIETÀ DEI CONCERTI DI TRIESTE as part of the NUOVO FESTIVAL DI TRIESTE.
On 22 September, the Beethoven-themed programme continues, moving from the iconic Fifth Symphony to the monumental Ninth, with the Maribor opera chorus and the baton of another outstanding musical figure who has been both a witness to, and a protagonist of late 20th-century symphonic music: 80-year-old Pinchas Steinberg. The line-up of distinguished soloists includes Romanian soprano Ana Maria Labin, Turkish-German mezzo-soprano Deniz Uzun, Sicilian tenor Antonino Siragusa, and Albanian baritone Gezim Myshketa.
For the fourth concert—one of the highlights of GO!2025—on 28 September, under the baton of Enrico Calesso, comes the true surprise of the season: a new commission from Teatro Verdi to Giorgio Battistelli, widely respected master of European composition, with ‘Fedeli d’Amore’, a staged oratorio for two voices, chorus and orchestra. Loosely inspired by the works of Claudio Magris and brought to life through the literary craftsmanship of writer, literary critic and television host Arnaldo Colasanti, ‘Fedeli d’Amore’ retraces the philosophical loves of the celebrated Trieste-born author, transposing them into song and music.
Then, on 4 October, comes a grand Russian evening featuring cellist Ettore Pagano—deeply attached to the Teatro Verdi, where he made his successful debut—under the baton of Arif Dadashev, a Moscow-born conductor and regular presence at the Mariinsky Theatre in Saint Petersburg, as well as a key figure in major Russian orchestras and in the rich tradition of Slavic chamber music. The programme includes Prokofiev’s Sinfonia Concertante for cello and orchestra—a masterpiece of the cello repertoire—and Night on Bald Mountain, Mussorgsky’s famous symphonic poem in the well-known arrangement by Rimsky-Korsakov.
The return of Daniel Oren to the symphonic stage comes with a programme featuring Rachmaninoff’s Second Piano Concerto and Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony. Fresh from his operatic triumphs, Oren will lead the performance in collaboration with the FVG Orchestra and pianist Alexander Gadjiev—originally from Gorizia and a regular on the most prestigious concert stages—who was recently appointed cultural ambassador for his hometown, which shares the title of European Capital of Culture 2025 with Nova Gorica.
Treviso-born Enrico Calesso returns to the podium of the Fondazione’s Orchestra on 24 October with a varied programme featuring Tchaikovsky’s Romeo and Juliet fantasy-overture, Paganini’s Violin Concerto No. 2 with the exceptional Giuseppe Gibboni—a regular guest at the theatre and highly praised by Trieste audiences in recent seasons—and concluding with Aus Italien, the symphonic fantasy by Strauss, a composer particularly dear to Calesso.
Rounding off the season on 23 December is the Christmas concert, featuring Rossini’s Petite Messe Solennelle for soloists, chorus and orchestra, conducted by Giulio Prandi, who returns to the city after the success of Bach’s St John Passion performed at the Cathedral of San Giusto last Easter. The soloists include soprano Alina Tkachuk, mezzo-soprano Michela Guarrera—a true Rossini specialist—and Chinese tenor Chuan Wang, trained at the Accademia della Scala and now enjoying a flourishing international career.
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