Ljubljana Festival to make for another culture-packed summer

The festival will open in Congress square in grand style with a rendition of Carmina Burana by the theatre group La Fura dels Baus.

Russian composer giants will be honoured by the St Petersburg Philharmonic orchestra at the beginning of July, while conductor Valery Gergiev, will return to Ljubljana with the Mariinsky Theatre to close the festival.

Before the closing concert, Russia's pre-eminent ensemble will also perform Wagner's Siegfried and Twilight of the Gods.

The list of soloist at the festival includes Argentinian pianist Martha Argerich, Chinese cellist Nie Jiapeng, and Italian pianist Gian Maria Bonino.

Also highlighted for the press on Wednesday by festival head Darko Brlek was a performance by US actor and director John Malkovich, who will join the I Solisti Aquilani ensemble and pianist Anastasya Terenkova with a rendition of Ernesto Sabato's novel Heroes and Tombs.

The Beijing Opera will present Puccini's Madam Butterfly, while visitors will also be able to attend the Slovenian premiere of Serbian composer Ana Sokolović's opera Svatba (Wedding) in a co-production of the Ljubljana Festival and the Festival D'Aix-En-Provence.

Other highlights include accordion and bandoneon virtuoso Richard Galliano, who will perform with the Slovenian Philharmonic String Chamber Orchestra, while the festival will also host the Belgrade Philharmonic String Quartet, the Ulikses string quartet, and an evening of Roma music with the ensemble of Roby Lakatos.

Slovenian contributions include a co-production of the Ljubljana Opera ensemble and Zagreb's Comedy Theatre, which will stage Emmerich Kalman's operetta The Gypsy Princess, as well as an homage to the later theatre director Tomaž Pandur by the Maribor SNG Drama Theatre entitled The Immaculate/Immaculata.

Also on the programme are the new Slovenian musical Vesna, which will already premiere on 7 July, and the hit Mamma Mia!.