BEMUS Headlines Busy Culture Month in Belgrade

BEMUS, Belgrade's most prominent and important classical music festival, will be entering its 47th year with an exciting array of performers from all over the world.

The BEMUS festival takes place from October 21 to 31 and will include virtuoso Russian pianist Nikolai Luganski, a Mongolian traditional music ensemble, famed ballerina Svetlana Zaharova, also from Russia, and many more highly esteemed performers.

Belgrade Secretary of Culture Vladan Vukosavljevic said that this year's festival will coincide with two anniversaries that are very important to Belgrade's classical music scene: 30 years of the public broadcaster RTS Symphonic Orchestra and its choir and 50 years of the city's lauded Dusan Skovran string orchestra. Of course, both will be participating and performing at the festival as well.

As far as the general focus of this year's repertoire is concerned, BEMUS Art Director Svetislav Bozic said that this year's programme will be dedicated to sounds of the 20th Century, noting that this year's performers were specifically chosen to give the festival a lively and bombastic vibe. He described the  pieces chosen for this year as anything but "lullabies".

"The music of the 20th Century showed authors  who were aware of the past, very observant of the current state of the world at the time and were also able to predict various levels of apocalypse and salvation in the future," Bozic said.

By far the most exotic act that is going to be featured this year is the Mongolian "Ih Tsetsen" Orchestra, who use very specific traditional string instruments, which can be likened to the ancient Serbian instruments known as "gusle". The music performed will give the audience great insight into the spiritual world of the Mongolian people.  

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