Top five concerts of the BHS

1. The opening concert will feature the Slovak Philharmonic (SF) with Alban Gerhardt on cello and new chief conductor of the SF, James Judd, playing the works of Franz Schmidt, P.I. Tchaikovsky and Robert Schumann. Tickets cost €22-€30.

Cellist Alban Gerhardt (source: Courtey of BHS)

2. The next day, the legendary Vienna Philharmonic (Wiener Filharmoniker), conducted by Zubin Mehta, with soloists – Rainer Honeck on violin, Robert Nagy on cello, Martin Gabriel on oboe and Sophie Dartigalongue on bassoon – will offer the works of Johannes Brahms, Joseph Haydn and Béla Bartók.

Zubin Mehta (source: Courtesy of BHS)

3. On October 2, the Tongyeong Festival Orchestra and conductor Heinz Holliger – renowned also as an oboe player – with promising Korean violinist Clara Jumi Kang offer the works of Maurice Ravel, Isang Yun, and Camille Saint-Saëns. Tickets cost €16-€25.

Clara Jumi Kang (source: JinoPark)

4. A week later, the Opera Gala Evening lures lovers of this genre with the Slovak Philharmonic conducted by the respected Italian personage, Speranza Scappucci, and one of the most sought after belcanto tenors, Lawrence Brownlee. Tickets cost €30-€45.

Speranza Scappucci (source: Silvia Lelli)

Lawrence Brownlee (source: Courtesy of BHS)

5. The outstanding Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra with its chief conductor Valery Gergiev brings a taste of the French and Russian atmospheres on October 14, with the works of Claude Debussy, Olivier Messiaen, Igor Stravinsky and Dmitry Shostakovich.

However, there are also some chamber concerts, an organ recital, a piano recital, a concert of early music, an evening of contemporary classical music, of Slovak music and more on offer.

UPDATED: The concerts mentioned above take place in the Reduta building of the Slovak Philharmonics; and tickets can be bought via www.bhsfestival.sk.