A wholly unusual program awaits the devotees of the Belgrade Philharmonic’s “Love” series, together with Chief-Conductor Gabriel Feltz, at Kolarac Hall, on Friday, February 1, at 8:00 p.m. In the works of Beethoven and Wagner, the audience will hear two musical opposites – love à la chamber, and love à la symphony!

Our new concert from the “Love” series starts very unusually – with only two artists on the stage. Gabriel Feltz, again showing his artistry on the piano, and tenor Thomas Mohr, will perform Beethoven’s song cycle To the Distant Beloved (An die ferne Geliebte) in which the composer’s usual heroic side gives way to the emotional.

A complete changeover on the Kolarac stage comes with Wagner’s opera Valkyrie, with as many as 100 musicians on stage. On this occasion, the audience will hear the first act of this monumental opera, whose main roles will be interpreted by prominent Wagnerians from renowned European opera houses: Michaela Kaune – soprano, Thomas Mohr – tenor, and Thorsten Grümbel – bass.

“It is a special privilege for me to work for the first time with the Belgrade Philharmonic on Wagner, whose work I consider to be the league of champions of classical music. If he had a reputation for being arrogant, I think it had to do with the completely new and different vision he had in relation to the opera tendencies of that time. Wagner introduced major changes in length, technique, complexity and the way in which the orchestra is involved in narrating the layered stories. It is interesting to note that at this concert we will conjure up an equally intimate atmosphere in both compositions, first with only with two musicians, and then with a massive orchestra,” Chief Conductor Gabriel Feltz said.

Wagner’s opera Valkyrie, as well as the entire tetralogy The Ring of the Nibelung, is a huge challenge for all opera houses, and its concert performance is one of the novelties in the Belgrade Philharmonic’s season.

One hundred standing tickets will be on sale at the Kolarac Box Office from 7:00 p.m., one hour before the beginning of the concert.