Organ of the Zagreb Cathedral

Once again, this year, the festival “Organ of the Zagreb Cathedral” will feature performances by the best organists from Croatia as well as abroad. All concerts will take place between July 3rd and September 18th.

The famous organ of the Zagreb Cathedral will again be played by the best Croatian and foreign organists this summer. The first concert of the festival titled “Organ of the Zagreb Cathedral”, will take place on July 3rd, and the festival will last until September 18th. The opening night performance will be by the Italian organist Luca Massaglia. During the festival, the honour of playing the very valuable organ of the Zagreb Cathedral, one of the ten greatest in the world, will also befall the Croatian organists Pavao Mašić, Edmund Andler-Borić, Mario Penzar and Milan Hibšer, as well as Sergio Orabona from Germany and Stanislav Šurin from Slovakia. Apart from these top class organists, the festival will also feature performances by trombonist Mario Šincek, trumpeter Dario Cepić and violinist Goran Končar, as well as sopranos Monika Cerovčec and Arijana Marić Gigliani. The festival will be closed by a concert dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the birth of the prolific composer Aldo Vidaković, who composed many organ pieces.

The organ of the Zagreb Cathedral, which was built in 1855 by the German company E. F. Walcker, is protected by the state as a zero grade monument. It features four manuals, a pedal board, 78 registers and 6068 pipes. What makes it special are the original parts which have been preserved since the first day of use. The organ features original keyboards dating from 1855. Also preserved, but located in a side-room, are the keyboards dating from 1939 and the so-called American Setzer combinations. They are the only original examples in Europe, and there are also pipes dating from 1855, with the original “Agram” sign.

More information about the festival, including the concert schedule, can be found online at www.zagreb-cathedral.org.