Cello Royale - Stifterkonzert der Wolfgang Carl Friedrich Grosse & Renate Elly Wald-Stiftung
- Location:
- Neues Schloss Stuttgart, Schlossplatz 4, 70173 Stuttgart
Thomas Zehetmair . Conductor
Ettore Pagano . Cello (First Prize Winner, Queen Elisabeth Competition 2026, Brussels)
Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra
Johann Sebastian Bach
Orchestral Suite No. 2 in B minor, BWV 1067
Robert Schumann
Cello Concerto in A minor, Op. 129
Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy
Symphony No. 9 in C major, “Swiss”
In cooperation with the Queen Elisabeth Competition
About the Wolfgang Carl Friedrich Grosse & Renate Elly Wald Foundation:
With the goal of preserving the musical heritage for the future and bringing it to life in the present, the couple Wolfgang Carl Friedrich Grosse and Renate Elly Wald founded the foundation of the same name in 2023. The foundation is dedicated to promoting art and culture in the field of classical music and has particularly close ties to the Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra. Thanks to the foundation, outstanding projects such as the “Beethoven Project” or the donor concerts in the White Hall of the New Palace in Stuttgart, in cooperation with the Queen Elisabeth Competition, become a reality.
About the program:
Anyone who has persevered round after round at the “Concours Reine Elisabeth,” prepared a world premiere during a week of seclusion, and proven themselves before the star-studded jury demonstrates not only skill and character but also nerves of steel. The Brussels competition is one of the golden gateways to the world of classical music and honors the most expressive talents in categories that change annually. 2026 is the year of the cello!
Under the watchful eyes of the Belgian royal couple, this year’s First Prize went to the Italian Ettore Pagano. It’s worth noting that this is by no means his first such award. Born in Rome in 2003, the musician has been honored among the best more times than he has lived years. Chief Conductor Thomas Zehetmair, the SKO, and Renate Elly Wald are very much looking forward to the competition winner’s guest performance in Stuttgart. Ettore Pagano will perform the solo part in Schumann’s Cello Concerto from 1850, a late work by the Romantic composer that remained unpublished during his lifetime—a piece that imbues the instrument with the wisest poetry and demands the greatest emotional sincerity. Joining Schumann on the program are Johann Sebastian Bach—rediscovered for the Romantic era by Mendelssohn—and Mendelssohn himself, whose precocious mastery deeply impressed Schumann. One thing is certain: The Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra’s second concert in honor of the Grosse Wald couple, held in the White Hall of Stuttgart’s New Palace, will once again leave everyone breathless.