On November 1, the 53rd Belgrade Music Festival opened at the Kolarac Endowment. Before the concert, the audience was addressed by Damir Handanović, Acting Director of CEBEF and Bojan Suđić, Artistic Director of BEMUS, and after that the Festival was opened by Ivan Karl, City Secretary of Culture.
Handanović greeted the audience, wishing to send a symbolic greeting from that place to Braca Petković and Ivan Tasovac, who are unfortunately no longer with us, after which he laid two white roses in the auditorium.
Recalling the brilliant moments from the life of the Festival, when it was an honour, even standing, to follow the performances of great names from the world of music, through the problematic 1990s in Serbia, Bojan Suđić talked about the present moment when there is a crisis in the whole world.
‘With a quality programme, BEMUS has survived in spite of everything as a conviction of all who have followed it for years, and the meaning and purpose of its existence goes beyond mere everyday life and the struggle for survival. It was the same last year: when many world festivals were canceled, BEMUS was held with all epidemiological measures’, said Suđić.
He wished a successful performance to the artists performing at the opening concert of the 53rd BEMUS and thanked those who had worked hard to realise the Festival, and especially the audience without which the Festival did not exist.
After the City Secretary of Culture officially declared the Festival open, the Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of Marco Parisotto performed an overture to Glinka's opera Ruslan and Lyudmila on the Kolarac podium.
This was followed by the performance of the famous violinist Nemanja Radulović, who, masterfully performing Prokofiev's Concerto No. 2, once again justified his status as a big star and favorite performing virtuoso, leaving no one indifferent – judging by loud applause from the audience.
Nemanja Radulović performed compositions by Bach and Paganini as an encore, dedicating them to those who are no longer with us, which added a sentimental note to his performance. He addressed the audience briefly, explaining that this performance was unexpected, but he emphasized that he was very glad that he was opening BEMUS. The concert ended with the performance of Rachmaninov's Symphony No. 1 in D minor.