The 8th Winter Festival will open with the monumental War Requiem  by the English composer Benjamin Britten. Scored for choirs, soloists and orchestra, it is considered one of the most convincing and emotionally charged works of the twentieth century. It was written for the consecration of the new Coventry Cathedral, built to replace its fourteenth-century predecessor, which was destroyed by bombing in the Second World War. The War Requiem  juxtaposes the text of the Latin Requiem Mass with extra-liturgical poems by the English war poet Wilfred Owen, offering a vivid portrayal of the horrors of the front in the First World War. Britten combined these elements together into an expressive and powerful work. A committed pacifist, Britten created an important anti-war message with this work, one that still resonates today in a world that is once again torn by wars.
The War Requiem  will be performed by the Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra, the resident orchestra of the 2025 Ljubljana Festival, conducted by the legendary maestro Charles Dutoit, a frequent visitor to the Slovenian capital. The soloists will be Nadezhda Pavlova, a multiple award winning soprano who has won critical plaudits for her flawless bel canto,  tenor Ian Bostridge, an acknowledged Britten specialist, and acclaimed baritone Matthias Goerne, known both for his performances on the opera stage and for his studio recordings. The Slovenian Philharmonic Choir will be joined by the Kaunas State Choir from Lithuania, distinguished by its artistic quality and rigorous approach and frequently entrusted with premiere performances of new works, and the famous Wiener Sängerknaben, founded in the thirteenth century.