Beyond the Laurels

Fresh from his First Prize triumph at the 2026 Queen Elisabeth Competition, Ettore Pagano returns to Brussels for a rare encounter between the Competition’s newest winner and one of the distinguished artists who sat on its jury. The young Italian cellist opens with Mendelssohn’s elegant Variations concertantes and Debussy’s groundbreaking Sonata before unleashing the virtuoso fireworks of Castelnuovo-Tedesco’s Figaro.

Internationally acclaimed Belgian cellist and 2026 Queen Elisabeth Competition juror Marie Hallynck then takes the stage, joined by her long-standing chamber music partner Muhiddin Dürrüoğlu in Saint-Saëns’s passionate First Cello Sonata. Its fiery and dramatic outer movements frame a serene central Andante, revealing a work of striking intensity and lyricism.

For the finale, Hallynck and Pagano are joined by Brussels Cello Festival Artistic Director Han Bin Yoon in Popper’s deeply moving Requiem for three cellos and piano. This exceptional meeting brings the Competition’s newest winner, one of its jurors and the festival’s artistic director together on a single stage, celebrating the moment when the applause of a great competition gives way to the next chapter of an artist’s journey.

Brussels Cello Festival 2026 À LA CARTE

20% off when you buy at least 3 tickets for different concerts of your choice during the 2026 Brussels Cello Festival (only valid for the standard price). Excluding the concert on 30 October 2026, ‘Strauss: Der Rosenkavalier’.