Maria João Pires, Matthias Goerne, Jordi Savall, Martha Argerich, Grigory Sokolov, Mitsuko Uchida, András Schiff, Nikolai Lugansky, Alexander Melnikov, Javier Perianes, Gabriela Montero, Yuja Wang, Lorenzo Viotti, Nuno Coelho, Giancarlo Guerrero, Pinchas Zukerman are other names in the season's program.

Batic's debut as a regular conductor takes place in the year that the Gulbenkian Choir celebrates its 60th anniversary.

The conductor's first concert is scheduled for October 16, in the main auditorium of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation (FCG), in Lisbon, with the participation of organist António Esteireiro, in which sacred and secular music by Anton Bruckner will be performed.

Throughout the season, Martina Batic will also conduct Portuguese Baroque music by Carlos Seixas and Francisco António de Almeida, in a program that also includes the influences of Alessandro and Domenico Scarlatti, in November, plus the traditional Christmas and Easter concerts, with two works by Johann Sebastian Bach: the Christmas Oratorio and the Passion According to St. Matthew.

Martina Batic won the Eric Ericson Competition in 2006. In the previous season (2023-2024), she was the head of the Vocal Ensemble of Denmark. She has conducted a versatile repertoire, from choral and chamber music to orchestral music. She studied in Ljubljana and Munich, and was principal conductor of the Radio France Choir from 2018 to 2022. Previously, she was the artistic director of the Philharmonic Choir and the Slovenian National Opera Choir.

The first concert of the season, on September 7, in Vale do Silêncio, in Lisbon, is part of the cycle "Lisbon in the Street", and will be performed by the Gulbenkian Choir and Orchestra, under the direction of conductor Cesário Costa, whose program includes works by Bizet, Verdi, Mascagni, Mozart, Orff, Marquez and Borodin.

On September 14, in the Gulbenkian Grand Auditorium, "framed by the commemorations of the fiftieth anniversary of April 25 [1974]", "Sounds of a Revolution" is presented, "a participatory project, shared between Artallis -- Loures Conservatory of Arts, Gulbenkian Musica and the Modern Art Center", which "results from a commission given to visual and sound artist Mikhail Karikis, to reflect on the notion of revolution", accompanied by the proposals of three Portuguese composers: Sara Ross, Teresa Gentil and Francisco Joaquim.

"Karikis questioned the approximately 50 young participants in the project about the revolutions that we need today as a society, with a special focus on climate change", says Gulbenkian in a statement.

The orchestra will be conducted by conductor Diogo Costa, and the choreography is by Maruan Sipert, with the participation of sociologist and ethnomusicologist Alix Sarroy.

The principal conductor of the Gulbenkian Orchestra, Hannu Lintu, will conduct a dozen double concerts during the season. On September 26, the first will be dedicated to "The Damnation of Faust", by Berlioz, with the Gulbenkian Choir and the Children's Choir of the Gregorian Institute of Lisbon, mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton, tenor Paul Appleby, baritone Arttu Kataja and bass Mikhail Petrenko, as soloists. The program is repeated the following day.

The last conducted by Lintu, on May 29 and 30, features Beethoven's 9th Symphony, again with the Gulbenkian Choir and Orchestra, in a program that also includes "The Wrath of God" by Sofia Gubaidulina. The soloists will be soprano Ambur Braid, mezzo-soprano Jess Dandy, tenor Michael Weinus and bass Matthew Rose.

The principal guest conductor of the Gulbenkian Orchestra, and former regular conductor, Lorenzo Viotti, has three concerts planned during the season, the first of which will be on October 24, which will include Bruckner's 7th Symphony, Brahms' 1st, Mozart's Clarinet Concerto, with clarinetist Carlos Ferreira, and the symphonic poem "Pelléas and Mélisande" by Schoenberg.

Throughout the season, the Orchestra will be conducted by, among others, conductors Nuno Coelho, Giancarlo Guerrero, Pinchas Zukerman, Peter Dijkstra, Muhai Tang, Krzysztof Urbánski, Aziz Shokhakimov and Susanna Mälkki, not forgetting Muhai Tang and Lawrence Foster, other former regular conductors. The Choir will also feature Inês Tavares Lopes.

An expected return to the main hall of the Palhavã is that of pianist Maria João Pires, announced for April 8, to perform Schubert's 'lieder' cycle "Winter Journey", with baritone Matthias Goerne.

The Piano Cycle features the names of Grigory Sokolov, Mitsuko Uchida, András Schiff, Nikolai Lugansky, Yefim Bronfman, Lucas Debargue and Kirill Gerstein.

Raul da Costa, Alexander Melnikov, Javier Perianes, Alexander Malofeev, Joonas Ahonen and Boris Giltburg are other pianists, announced for programs with the Gulbenkian Orchestra.

The Great Performers Cycle is expected to include the participation of Jordi Savall, with Hespèrion XXI, pianists Martha Argerich, Gabriela Montero and Yuja Wang, who will play with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra.

The group Il Pomo d'oro, another regular name in Gulbenkian's seasons, will present two concerts, one of which, under the musical direction of harpsichordist Francesco Corti, on March 1, with tenor Michael Spyres, dedicated to the Baroque vocal universe.

The other concert, on December 15, at 6:00 pm, is dedicated to "Sacrae Cantiones" (Liber primus), by Carlo Gesualdo, by Il Pomo d'Oro, under the direction of Giuseppe Maletto.

On June 6, it will be the turn of Vasco Mendonça's piano concert, "Step Right Up", a commission from Gulbenkian, to be performed by the Orchestra, under the direction of José Eduardo Gomes and Raul da Costa as soloist.

This concert is presented within the scope of the New Music Days festival, one of the biggest annual events dedicated to new music, which is celebrating its 40th anniversary and is being held in Portugal for the first time, between May and June 2025, in Porto and Lisbon, organized by Miso Music Portugal.

The full program for the 2024-2025 Gulbenkian Season is now available on the Gulbenkian Música website.

Leia Também: Orquestra Gulbenkian e Expresso Transatlântico em junho na Covilhã (Portuguese version)