The final beginners’ concert of the Belgrade Philharmonic in the season 2015/16 is scheduled on Friday, 22 April (Kolarac, 8pm), when the orchestra will give a concert under the baton of Vladimir Kulenović. In addition to standard repertoire pieces for orchestra – Beethoven’s Prometheus and Strauss’ Ein Heldenleben, celebrated pianist Barry Douglas will play Tchaikovsky’s rarely performed Concert Fantasia, as part of the Belgrade Philharmonic’s concert series For Beginners.
 
For his last concert in the current season, the Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra’s Resident Conductor Vladimir Kulenović announces the appearance of a hero:
 
“After life, after destruction, every story must have its hero and now we are preparing this ‘heroic’ piece by Richard Strauss. I am confident that love is the only true hero capable of saving the world and in this music we can find the resolute strength to persevere until its final triumph. This is my first performance of this piece and I feel privileged to do it with the heroes of the Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra”, said Vladmir Kulenović.
 
The concert For Beginners will be opened by Beethoven’s Prometheus, the composer’s first music for the stage. Many will feel as beginners when they hear Tchaikovsky’s Concert Fantasia, since this piano piece is rarely performed. Pianist Barry Douglas calls it a “wonderful, beautiful piece of music, which deserves to be played more frequently owing to its special radiance”. Now a regular guest of the Belgrade Philharmonic, Barry Douglas nurtures his Irish roots while at the same time maintaining an intense tempo of international guest appearances and tours.
 
The Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra is a traditional guest at the NOMUS Festival, where it will perform the same programme at the Novi Sad Synagogue, on Thursday, 21 April, at 7.30pm.