The Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra’s programme will include a world-exclusive piece – Igor Stravinsky’s Funeral Song, for two consecutive nights on 7 and 8 December (Kolarac, 8pm). Directed by Hans Graf, one of the most intriguing repertoires of the season will also include Tchaikovsky’s well-known Piano concerto in B-flat minor, performed by pianist Sergei Babayan, as well as Rachmaninoff’s Symphony No 3.

The rediscovery of Stravinsky’s long-lost piece and its reconstruction was last year one of the world’s most meaningful events in the musical circles. The composer himself believed that the piece had to still exist somewhere, and the search for the lost score was more than a century long.

The Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra is the only Southeast European orchestra that has the exclusive right to perform this piece in 2017, beside a few other selected orchestras from the whole world, including the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, the Orchestre national de France, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the Philharmonia Orchestra London.

Following this world exclusive, the Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra will play the greatest hits of the Russian romantic expression. Former laureate of many international competitions and nowadays a sought-after pianist around the world, Sergei Babayan will perform one of the most popular piano works ever written – Tchaikovsky’s legendary Piano concerto in B-flat minor. The powerful sound of Rachmaninoff’s last symphony and the nostalgia for the great romantic era wrap up the programme of both evenings.