show category: Concert

OPERA APERTA INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL 2026

On Saturday, 27 June, at 11:59 PM, the International Opera Aperta Festival 2026 presents Songs and Dances of Death, a concert performed by the Oradea State Philharmonic Orchestra at MINA – Museum of Immersive New Art.

The event proposes a programme built around works that approach the themes of death, loss, and farewell from different musical perspectives. The repertoire brings together orchestral and vocal-symphonic pages by Edward Elgar, Gustav Mahler, Samuel Barber, Modest Mussorgsky, and Jean Sibelius, in a musical journey marked by a meditative and dramatic character.

The concert will be conducted by Andrej Vesel, invited from Croatia, and the soloist of the evening will be baritone Florin Estefan. The programme includes Edward Elgar’s Sospiri, Op. 70, Gustav Mahler’s Kindertotenlieder, Samuel Barber’s Adagio for Strings, Op. 11, Modest Mussorgsky’s Songs and Dances of Death, and The Death of Mélisande from Jean Sibelius’s Pelléas et Mélisande Suite, Op. 46.

The title of the concert is taken from Modest Mussorgsky’s work, one of the most significant vocal-symphonic creations dedicated to this theme. By placing it alongside works such as Kindertotenlieder and Adagio for Strings, the programme brings into dialogue several forms of expression: lament, contemplation, dramatic tension, and restrained lyricism.

The event has no interval and is expected to end around 1:15 AM.

Tickets are available on the bilete.ro platform.

Recommended age: 12+

The International Opera Aperta Festival is organised with the support of the Ministry of Culture, the Cluj-Napoca City Hall, the Cluj-Napoca Local Council, the Cluj County Council, and the “Opera 2 You” Association.