Živa Ploj Peršuh to conduct at Vienna's famous Musikverein on the anniversary of Salieri Vienna

The concert is dedicated to the 200th anniversary of the birth of Antonio Salieri, to whom the city of Vienna, where he worked, pays tribute with performances of his works, lectures and other events in various venues. Many of the concerts are held at the Musikverein.

The programme includes Salieri's Symphony in D major for chamber orchestra, Veneziana, and she will also perform Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Concerto for Oboe and Orchestra in C major with the orchestra of the Vienna Music Association, a new work by the Czech composer Tomáš Illé and a work by the Austrian composer Franz Xaver Süssmayr.

"I will share the stage with Sebastian Breit, who is undoubtedly one of the finest oboists of our time, principal oboist of the Vienna Philharmonic and an outstanding interpreter of Mozart's oboe concerto," says Breit. she told STA.

Salieri is considered an overlooked composer by the conductor and musicologist, something they want to change in Vienna, where he was active for most of his career. "The myth, reinforced among the general public by the famous film Amadeus, has caused damage. In reality, he was a very distinguished composer, and a teacher to many, Beethoven, Hummel, Schubert, Mozart and Süssmayr, to name but a few. He achieved fame as an opera composer, and in Vienna he held high positions, for example as court composer. He knew the Italian musical world well and was generally a man of great insight." said Ploj Peršuh.

She was invited to give a concert two or three years ago, as the programmes are set several years in advance. "The promoters of the orchestras I worked with during this period came to see me at one of the concerts, met me in person and then we talked about concrete possibilities and programmes." she explained.

Ploj Peršuh is increasingly opening up abroad, judging by the fact that in April she toured Pesce, Hungary, and after Vienna she will give the first performance in Lisbon of Cafe Europa, a new chamber opera by the younger generation of Austrian composers, Christoph Renhart. "Foreign countries are opening up, but staying in the market is extremely challenging and means working on it all the time." says the conductor.

In the meantime, she will lead the annual summer orchestra camp of the Slovenian Youth Orchestra in Ljubljana this summer, which will be part of the international Sit Down campaign to mark the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War and the founding of the United Nations. Through the Sit Down Campaign, the young people aim to appeal to world leaders and decision-makers to put peace and prosperity for all first.

In this spirit, they will prepare and perform the musical Peace Child, inspired by the Declaration for future generations. "The children and young people who will be this year's co-creators will express through music, playing in the orchestra, singing in the choir and through dialogue their thoughts on social justice, how conflicts are resolved at all levels, their aspirations and their vision for the future." she said.

The project will take place in August at the Križanke and in October at the Concert House in Vienna, and is being organised jointly with Peace Child International and the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs. As Ploj Peršuh explained, in previous years they have repeatedly addressed socially responsible themes using music as a universal, universally understandable language: "The H2SO4 Alarm, Vivaldi's Uncertain Four Seasons with the use of artificial intelligence, concerts as part of the Samo1planet campaign, Music for the future and the like are our tools through which a young person learns to use their voice and, above all, to be aware of it."