Austrian Vienna Chamber Orchestra – one of the world’s best! – plays at “Zaryadye” for the first time. Daniel Cohen and Lena Belkina are onstage with the orchestra. 

Founded in 1946, Vienna Chamber Orchestra quickly gained recognition as one of the best. The Orchestra worked with prominent conductors, soloists, and singers. Yehudi Menuhin, Carlo Zecchi, Philippe Entremont, Sándor Végh, Heinrich Schiff, and Stefan Vladar were the Orchestra’s leaders. In 1946, Benjamin Britten took part in performance of his Serenada op.31; Alfred Brendel and Daniel Barenboim played with the orchestra, with the latter being only 9 years old (that was his professional debute).

The Orchestra tours extensively in Austria and abroad, being frequent guest to the international festivals. At “Zaryadye”, music by Viennese classics will be performed by the Orchestra led by Daniel Cohen. 

Daniel Cohen is the new general music director (GMD) of Staatstheater Darmstadt in Germany, and former Kappelmeister at the Deutsche Oper Berlin for the 2015-2017 seasons, during which he enjoyed success of Mozart, Rossini, Verdi, and Haas operas. Contemporary music is among his interests, too: during 2011-2013, he collaborated with Pierre Boulez within the frameworks of a project dedicated to music written by contemporary composers. 

Lena Belkina raised to stardom right after her debut at Vienna State Opera as Second Lady in Mozart’s “The Magic Flute”. In 2012, she sang Cinderella in the eponymous movie with the music of Rossini. La Stampa wrote in this connection: “Rossini was in awe of Lena”. Today, the singer collaborates with well-known conductors, like Marco Armiliato, Ádám Fischer, and Riccardo Muti. She frequently performs at Wiener Konzerthaus, and takes part in greatest festivals including The Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro, Bregenzer Festspiele, and many others.