Soloists from the Graz Opera ensemble will celebrate the start of New Year 2026 with a generous helping of Italianità together with the Graz Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of their longstanding conductor Marius Burkert! Titles by Austrian composers such as Robert Stolz’s “Arrivederci bella Italia” or “Wo die Zitronen blühn” by Johann Strauss Sohn make the longing and wanderlust for the country in which “everything dissolves into peace and serenity” audible. One always remains clear, always equanimous, always objectively tuned”. 

"Beautiful Italy!"

Oper Graz

With Francis Poulenc's rarely performed Organ Concerto, Christian Schmitt brings us a virtuoso performance of the concert hall organ in the Graz Musikverein. In Camille Saint-Saëns's famous Organ Symphony , the organ later functions as an instrument almost equal to the orchestra. A new sonic discovery, however, is "Amor Fati ," an orchestral piece in which the contemporary Cretan composer Giorgos Koumendakis brings the music of his homeland to life without the use of traditional Greek instruments, for example, through rich ornamentation in the strings, thiaboli and mandora sounds, and rhythmic patterns of transcribed birdsong in the woodwinds.

Graz Philharmonic Orchestra

23 - 24 Feb, 2026

2nd Music Association Concert

Jan 1, 2026

"Beautiful Italy!"

Graz Philharmonic Orchestra