Giovanni Antonini, Julia Lezhneva

We are in for a delightful performance: Giovanni Antonini, as conductor and director, takes us on a journey through an inventive programme full of emotion and dramaturgical surprises. In the first part, we take a stroll through the enchanting world of Italian music, which revolved almost exclusively around opera in the 18th and 19th centuries. This was a field in which many composers excelled, and so we present wonderful arias written by the leading bel canto masters of the time, Rossini, Bellini and Paisiello – and welcome the celebrated artist Julia Lezhneva as the singer for the often dazzling coloratura passages. Finally, we dive into a magnificent work by a composer who was known for his ability to »do everything, to tease and thrill, to provoke laughter and deep emotion, and to do everything as well as Haydn«. He loved to play with the audience’s expectations, which is why he was called the »Shakespeare of music«. His Symphony No. 60 is a perfect example of this, as it is actually a whimsical orchestral suite for stage music: he wrote it in 1774 for the comedy »Le Distrait«, meaning »the absent-minded«, which is why there are countless confusing plot lines. The captivating setting consists of a loose sequence of six sections and is full of playful wit thanks to abrupt changes or pauses and rhythmic irregularities. We are virtually transformed into theatre actors, for example shortly after the beginning of the final movement, when the flow of music suddenly breaks off and the strings »have to« retune their instruments – only for us to continue enjoying this orchestral comedy with renewed vigour.

Tickets from 25.08.2025 10 a.m.