Name: Three Choirs Festival: Belshazzar’s Feast
Start: 2026-07-25T20:00:00
Location: Gloucester Cathedral

Adrian Partington

Philharmonia Orchestra

Beethoven’s Choral Fantasy begins with a dramatic piano solo, performed by the festival’s director, before Cristian Măcelaru takes up the baton. The Vienna Singverein delicately enters and everyone rises together to the anthemic conclusion.

Grafenegg: Beethoven and Orff with Cristian Măcelaru

Grafenegg Wolkenturm

Child Policy: This performance is not suitable for children under six years old. Children aged 16 and under must be accompanied by a caregiver who attends the event with the child. Conductor --- Karl-Heinz Steffens Cello --- Anastasia Kobekina Grieg --- Peer Gynt: Suite No.1 Shostakovich --- Cello Concerto No.1 Haydn --- Symphony No.97 Beginning with the clean tranquillity of Morning, Grieg's first suite from his music to the play Peer Gynt ends in its hero's escape from the terrifying Mountain King. Shostakovich's darkly glittering concerto is a searching insight into the soul of the cello and into the soul of its composer. It's played by the blazing Russian cellist Anastasia Kobekina, making her New Zealand debut. Like all Haydn's late symphonies, his 97th is joyful, energetic, and never less than life-affirming.

Auckland Philharmonia: Haydn & Shostakovich

Auckland Town Hall

Dramatic, thrilling, magnificent – we open the 2026 Three Choirs Festival in Gloucester with a concert full of dazzling music.