The Most Popular Operas for Wind Ensemble and Double Bass

At its new two-day concert of chamber music at the Belgrade Philharmonic Hall, on Thursday and Friday, October 8 and 9, at 8:00 p.m. we will present the most popular operas in a new light. Our wind ensemble and double bass will perform abridged and adapted versions of The Barber of Seville by Rossini and Carmen by Bizet.

In the same way that opera arrangements for small wind ensembles were once very popular on European concert podiums, our musicians will hold a kind of lounge party at the Belgrade Philharmonic Hall.

“This tradition has been alive since the time of Mozart; wind ensembles were very fashionable and were played at parties when it was impossible to listen to a big orchestra, just as it is now. Our arrangements are extremely attractive, we love them, and we are sure that the audience will enjoy them too. Each instrument has its own opera role, they are all equally represented, and the double bass gives added warmth,” clarinetist Ognjen Popović said.

The program includes The Barber of Seville arranged by Wenzel Sedlak, and Carmen arranged by Andreas Tarkmann. Musicians: Stana Krstajić – flute; Ognjen Popović, Mihailo Samoran – clarinets; Bojan Pešić, Petar Vučelić – oboes; Nenad Janković, Aleksandar Popović – bassoons; Jovan Savić, Luka Kalezić – trumpets; Srdjan Djordjević – double bass.