About the event
Summer Night honours Oto Pestner
This year’s Summer Night is dedicated to the 70th anniversary of Oto Pestner, a key figure of Slovenian popular music. Accompanied by the RTV Slovenia Symphony Orchestra and Big Band, his greatest hits will be performed in rich orchestral arrangements. The concert, recorded and broadcast by RTV Slovenia, will conclude with the iconic song Poletna noč.
Calendar
Sponsorship
Interesting facts
- Oto Pestner made his first recordings at the age of 12 in the Radio Celje studio, and in 1971, aged just 15, won the Slovene Song Festival with the song “Trideset let”.
- By the end of the 1970s he was a regular participant and prize winner at the Slovene Song Festival (“Mati, bodiva prijatelja”, “Tvoje solze”, “Vrača se pomlad”), the Opatija Festival (“Šepet poletnih trav”), and Vesela Jesen (as a member of the New Swing Quartet).
- Oto Pestner has created some of the most important albums of Slovene popular music: Zlato sonce in črna reka (1974), Črna zvezda (1976), Ciganska kri (1991) and Invisible Instruments (1995) – for the last of which he won a Zlati petelin award. He also recorded one of the most notable albums of original songs on the Jugoton label, Pravi posao (1980).
- At the age of six he sang in a pub in Koper accompanied by his father on the accordion; he himself regards 1962 as his first serious public performance, when he appeared on the programme “Pokaži, kaj znaš” (Show what you can do), recorded at a restaurant in Gaberje (Celje), and won second place.
- In 1998 the City Municipality of Celje awarded him the Silver Coat of Arms of Celje for his achievements in music and his contribution to the promotion of the city. In 2021 he received the Mayor’s Award for his lifetime contribution to music and to the recognition of Celje, and was entered in the city’s book of distinguished visitors.
Performers
Solisti
Programme
More information
This year’s Summer Night is dedicated to an important milestone in the life of one of the key figures of Slovene popular music – the singer and writer of many popular hits – as some of Slovenia’s top singers pay homage to Oto Pestner on the occasion of his 70th birthday. The gala concert in Congress Square will feature a selection of Oto’s biggest hits as performer or writer, accompanied by the RTV Slovenia Symphony Orchestra and RTV Slovenia Big Band conducted by Patrik Greblo. We will hear rich orchestral arrangements of legendary songs such as: Trideset let (Thirty years), Bisere imaš v očeh (You have pearls in your eyes), Vrača se pomlad (Spring is returning), Mati, bodiva prijatelja (Mother, let’s be friends), Šepet poletnih trav (The whisper of summer grasses), Vse je lepše, ker te ljubim (Everything is more beautiful because I love you), Vrniva se na najino obalo (Let us return to our seashore), Violine v mojem srcu (Violins in my heart), Tvoje solze (Your tears), Poštar zvoni samo dvakrat (The postman only rings twice), and many others. The concert will be filmed by TV Slovenia and broadcast live by Radio Slovenia. The musical journey through Oto Pestner’s rich and diverse musical treasury will once again conclude with Elza Budau and Mojmir Sepe’s song Poletna noč (Summer Night), which gives this annual event its name.
Accessibility for visitors with reduced mobility
Festival Ljubljana is committed to ensuring a welcoming and accessible experience at cultural events for persons with reduced mobility.
Selected venues offer designated wheelchair-accessible spaces as well as seating for accompanying persons. Wheelchair users can inquire about availability and reserve accessible seating by calling +386 (0)1 241 60 28 or emailing blagajna@ljubljanafestival.si.
Free rides on LPP city buses
Ticket holders for events within the 74th Ljubljana Festival are entitled to free rides on LPP city buses within two hours before the start and two hours after the end of each event.
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