The Philharmonic Brass & Tugan Sokhiev
29.06.26 > 19:30
> NODA BCVS
Description
– Exceptional “off-season” concert of the Sion Festival –
As a pre-opening event of the 2026 edition of the Sion Festival, the ensemble The Philharmonic Brass presents an exceptional concert, bringing together overtures, dances and symphonic poems. Founded in 2022 by the brass and percussion players of the Vienna and Berlin Philharmonic Orchestras, the ensemble explores an immense and varied repertoire. Thanks to new arrangements by Peter Lawrence and Matthias Höfs, it reveals the full virtuosity and sonic richness of its instruments.
Under the direction of Tugan Sokhiev, The Philharmonic Brass takes us to the heart of some of the greatest orchestral masterpieces. Russian music opens the programme, from Dmitri Shostakovich’s Festive Overture, celebrating the thirty-seventh anniversary of the October Revolution, to Alexander Borodin’s Polovtsian Dances from Prince Igor, which immerse the listener in twelfth-century Russia. Two joyful and radiant overtures complete the programme: Antonín Dvořák’s Carnival Overture, with its colourful and dance-like motifs, and Gioachino Rossini’s famous William Tell Overture, alternating striking contrasts, from the peaceful prelude to the spirited and impetuous final gallop.
Finally, a prominent place is reserved for Italian composers. We will thus be transported to Rome with Ottorino Respighi’s symphonic poem Roman Festivals and Pines of Rome, where nature becomes the guiding thread of vibrant and colourful memories. Italian sonorities also unfold in Verdi’s Ballabile from Aïda, with its captivating rhythm and grand orchestration, Martucci’s Nocturnes, delicate and poetic, and Puccini’s Intermezzo, with its deeply moving and poignant lyricism.
An exceptional concert as a foretaste of the 62nd edition of the Sion Festival, which will begin on 21 August! (Ticket sales open on 6 May)
Photo © Christoph Zeilinger
Program
D. Chostakovitch / Festive Overture, Op. 96
A. Borodine / Polovtsian Dances (Prince Igor)
A. Dvořák / Slavic Dances, Op. 46, No. 1 and Carnival Overture, Op. 92
G. Rossini / William Tell Overture
G. Puccini / Intermezzo (Manon Lescaut)
G. Verdi / Ballabile (Aïda)
G. Martucci / 2 Nocturnes, Op. 70
O. Respighi / Circenses (Roman Festivals) and The Pines of the Appian Way (Pines of Rome)
Artists
Concert venue
Avenue de Tourbillon 22
1950 Sion
Switzerland