Bregenz Festival – Vienna Symphony Orchestra, Dalia Stasevska

Dalia Stasevska and the Vienna Symphony Orchestra

With three works from different times and countries, this concert evening, conducted by the Finnish-Ukrainian conductor Dalia Stasevska, becomes a deeply felt reflection on origin, longing, and identity. The orchestral piece *Ciel d’hiver* (Winter Sky) by the late composer Kaija Saariaho, who passed away in 2023, unfolds in a floating, luminous, and atmospheric manner. It is an avant-garde work of ethereal beauty. In contrast, the passionate drama of Lili Boulanger's cantata *Faust et Hélène* stands out. At just 20 years old, the composer won the prestigious Prix de Rome in 1913 with this piece, becoming the first woman to do so. Antonín Dvořák's famous Ninth Symphony was composed during the Czech composer's stay in the USA. Inspired by the vastness of the American continent, spirituals, and songs, *From the New World* was a great success at its premiere in 1893. Dalia Stasevska is the first guest conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra and invites the Vienna Symphony Orchestra to create a musical bridge between cultures, the old and the new.

Program
Kaija Saariaho
*Ciel d’hiver*
Lili Boulanger
*Faust et Hélène*
Antonín Dvořák
*Symphony No. 9 in E Minor (From the New World)*

Performers
Conductor
Dalia Stasevska
Mezzo-soprano
Emily D’Angelo
Tenor
Andrew Staples
Baritone
Rafael Fingerlos

Date: July 27, 2026 – 7:30 PM
Great Hall