BEMUS opens at Kolarac with six soloists and RTS Choir

The first concert of the 58th BEMUS, held on Saturday evening, October 17, 2026, in the Great Hall of the Kolarac Foundation, was conducted by Dusan Vilic. According to the Bizlife preview, Vilic has been engaged since 2023 at the Mariinsky Theatre, on its stage in Vladivostok, and regularly conducts ballet performances on the theatre’s main stage in St. Petersburg.

He led the Symphony Orchestra and the Choir of Radio Television of Serbia (RTS), and the concert was staged in cooperation with RTS Music Production. Our article yesterday reported that the Belgrade Music Festival was about to begin. Now it is clear who opened the oldest classical music festival in Serbia and what the audience heard: excerpts from operas by Tchaikovsky, Mussorgsky and Rimsky-Korsakov. In its report from the concert, Telegraf notes that the audience applauded the performers for several minutes.

Who sang at the BEMUS opening?

Six soloists took the stage. The list published by Telegraf and Politika after the concert reads:

• soprano Tatjana Pavlovskaja, whom Bizlife describes as a People’s Artist of Russia who has performed at the Metropolitan Opera, La Scala and the Bavarian State Opera and was nominated for a Grammy
• mezzo-soprano Ekaterina Lukas, a soloist of the Mariinsky Theatre and guest soloist of the Bolshoi Theatre, according to the preview
• tenor Igor Morozov, a soloist of the Helikon Opera and guest soloist of the Mariinsky Theatre, according to the same preview
• baritones Vjaceslav Vasiljev, a Mariinsky Theatre soloist, and Sergej Kajdalov, a soloist of the Vienna State Opera
• bass Gevorg Grigorjan

Telegraf and Politika place the singers at the Mariinsky and Bolshoi theatres and the Vienna State Opera, and describe the concert as a gala evening of stars of the Russian opera scene. That is why the headline gives only the number six: none of the sources claims that all six singers are from Russia. Bizlife puts Kajdalov in Vienna, and no source names a house for Grigorjan.

Who was the bass: Kazakov or Grigorjan?

This is where the sources part ways. In its October 16 preview, Bizlife listed Ilja Kazakov, a soloist of the Vienna State Opera, as the bass. Both reports written after the concert mention Grigorjan, and neither mentions Kazakov. The available texts do not show why the names differ, whether there was a last-minute change or one side made a mistake, so we report what each source wrote, without assuming a cause.

Where is Iolanta?

In its preview, Bizlife wrote that in choosing the program, conductor Dusan Vilic put a special emphasis on the opera “Iolanta,” Tchaikovsky’s last opera. The post-concert reports do not mention “Iolanta” and name only the three composers, so they do not show how much of that work reached the stage, or in what form. What is confirmed is the list of composers, not how the program was divided among the operas.

What comes next until October 30?

The festival runs through October 30 under the motto “Music Beyond Time.” Its program of symphonic, opera and chamber concerts brings together ensembles and soloists from Serbia and Europe. The foreign backbone is three orchestras:

• the Sofia Philharmonic under conductor Najden Todorov, with violinist Sergej Krilov as soloist
• the Thessaloniki State Symphony Orchestra, led by Lije Mekfol
• the Franz Liszt Chamber Orchestra from Budapest

Swedish violinist Daniel Lozakovic and pianist Arkadij Volodos will give solo recitals. One evening is also devoted to the 50th anniversary of the Collegium Musicum Academic Choir, led by Dragana Jovanovic. The domestic scene is represented by violinist Stefan Milenkovic with the Nis Symphony Orchestra under conductor Dejan Savic, the Korda Piano Trio, the Opera of the National Theatre in Belgrade, and a concert of young musicians featuring finalists of the RTS audition for the 2026 Eurovision Young Musicians competition. World premieres are announced for works by Aleksandar Sedlar, Marko Nikodijevic, Drasko Adzic and Jug Markovic.

The curtain falls on October 30 with a concert by the Belgrade Philharmonic under conductor Uros Lajovic. The soloist is Czech pianist Lukas Vondracek, winner of the Queen Elisabeth Competition in Brussels, for whom this is, according to Politika, a first appearance before a Belgrade audience. Tickets are on sale at Ticket Vision outlets and on Tickets.rs.