Ice-Cello

An ice cello lies at the heart of this distinctive concert evening. The instrument is played by internationally acclaimed cellist and composer Giovanni Sollima, who brings this extraordinary creation to the stage of the Waltherhaus in Bolzano. The concert forms part of Flame After Hour, the evening programme following the Olympic Torch Relay of the Milano–Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games. The cello was crafted from glacier water sourced in the Val Senales and developed by American ice artist and luthier Tim Linhart, who has been building ice instruments for many years and presenting them in concert settings around the world. In Bolzano, Sollima performs inside a transparent dome designed to protect the instrument and emphasise its striking presence on stage.For this occasion, Sollima composed The N-Ice Cello, a work for ice cello and string orchestra. Together with the Haydn Orchestra of Bolzano and Trento, the programme brings contemporary music into dialogue with the classical repertoire. The evening concludes with Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Symphony No. 41, Jupiter, the composer’s final symphonic work. Musical direction is led by Marco Mandolini, concertmaster of the Haydn Orchestra. The project is part of the official programme of the Olympic Torch Relay in South Tyrol and is realised in collaboration with the City of Bolzano and the Autonomous Province of Bolzano – South Tyrol