by InTrieste
As cherry blossoms bloom across Trieste, a different kind of spring awakening is set to take place—one born of waltzes, war cries, and symphonic grandeur. The Rossetti Theater will host Primavera da Vienna, a three-day musical celebration featuring the world-renowned Wiener Symphoniker, conducted by rising star Petr Popelka.
This mini-festival, unfolding from April 11 to 13, is a rare opportunity to experience the sheer breadth and power of the Viennese tradition. The program spans Italian operatic dances, late Romantic German masterpieces, and Viennese classics, performed by one of Europe’s most storied orchestras.
Friday: A Verdi-Wagner Double Bill
The opening night on Friday, April 11 at 8:30 p.m. sets an ambitious tone, pairing the elegant theatricality of Giuseppe Verdi with the mythic intensity of Richard Wagner.
The evening begins with a suite of ballets drawn from Verdi’s operas Macbeth, Aida, and Don Carlos—an Italian feast of rhythm and color rarely performed in concert halls. These opulent divertissements, written for the Parisian stage, will unfold with cinematic flair.
After intermission, the mood shifts to the stormy forests of Die Walküre. Wagner’s first act, complete with its love, fate, and fury, will be performed with a stellar cast: Michael Spyres as Siegmund, Sarah Wegener as Sieglinde, and Georg Zeppenfeld as Hunding—voices powerful enough to ride Wagner’s orchestral waves.
Saturday: A Meeting of Mozart and Mahler
On Saturday, April 12 at 7:30 p.m., Popelka and the Wiener Symphoniker return with a dialogue between two Austro-German titans: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Gustav Mahler.
Mozart’s Symphony No. 38 in D major, better known as the “Prague” Symphony, opens the evening. Its balance of lyricism and brio offers a moment of classical clarity before diving into the soul-searching romanticism of Mahler’s Symphony No. 4 in G major. The final movement, a childlike vision of heavenly joys, will be sung by soprano Julia Kleiter, her voice lending purity to Mahler’s mystical finale.
Sunday: Strauss and the Sound of Spring
The final concert on Sunday, April 13 at 4:00 p.m. brings the festival full circle, celebrating the dance and elegance of Johann Strauss II with a Viennese twist. The bill includes music infused with Strauss’s trademark sparkle, balanced by a more introspective centerpiece: a cello performance by Christoph Stradner, principal cellist of the Wiener Symphoniker.
Tenor Michael Spyres returns to the stage for selections that blend operatic drama with orchestral finesse, a fitting capstone to this journey through Vienna’s rich musical past and present.
A Rare Visit from Vienna’s Finest
While the Wiener Symphoniker regularly performs at home in the Konzerthaus and the Musikverein, their visit to Trieste is a rare occasion, carefully curated and enthusiastically anticipated. The Rossetti Theater, known more for its theatrical productions than symphonic grandeur, will be transformed into a Viennese salon—just for a weekend.
Press accreditations and further information are available through the festival’s communications team, with an updated press release expected this weekend. Journalists are encouraged to express interest in attending by Monday, April 7 at noon.
In a city shaped by Mitteleuropean culture, where Italian, Slovenian, and Austrian influences meet, Primavera da Vienna feels less like a visit from abroad and more like a homecoming.
