
Nielsen: Helios Overture
Every morning, Helios, the Greek sun god, would set off on his journey across the heavens in his golden chariot, drawn by four stallions, the rays of the sun radiating from his jewel-encrusted golden helmet.
Carl Nielsen composed the Helios Overture during a stay in Athens, where his wife Anne Marie was studying Greek art. Just like Richard Strauss’ famous sunrise prelude to Also sprach Zarathustra, the Helios Overture begins with a single drawn-out chord on the low strings. On the score, Nielsen wrote: "Silence and darkness. The sun rises with a joyous song of praise. It wanders its golden way and sinks quietly into the sea."
Bartók: Concerto for Viola and Orchestra
“In all likelihood, some passages will prove to be uncomfortable or unplayable,” wrote Bela Bartók in a letter to his client, the Scottish violist William Primrose. He went on to explain that the sketch of the concerto was almost complete, only requiring a little further “mechanical labour”. Shortly after, Bartók died of leukaemia at the age of 64. The concerto is considered to be his final work.
His student and countryman Tibor Serly (1901-1978) took it upon himself to complete the work, although this proved to be far from simple mechanical labour; in fact, the score was a mess. Bartók had composed on loose sheets of unpaginated note paper, often containing other sketches. The task of compiling the concerto took Serly three years and it was not until 2 December 1949 that it was finally performed, over four years after the composer’s death. The work consists of three continuous movements, beginning with a sedate viola theme that succeeds in being both melancholy and eerie. The second movement starts in prayer and contemplation before growing in intensity. Although the finale requires a technical tour-de-force of the soloist, they are granted a few brief respites in the form of beautiful orchestral interplay with just a touch of nostalgia.
Nielsen: Symphony No. 4
Nielsen composed his fourth symphony The Inextinguishable, during the First World War, its title a reference to music as the expression of the will to life – a feeling that was highly relevant amid the reports of poison gas attacks and the hopeless trench warfare being conducted on the battlefields of Europe. Barely two minutes into the first movement, after the violent prelude, a beautiful and sad theme is introduced on the clarinets, so often associated with joie de vivre. The finale contains a famous and spectacular dual between the timpanists, which the rest of the orchestra desperately attempts to break through. When they succeed, the work arrives at a warm sense of triumph and reconciliation.
Medverkande
Malmö SymfoniOrkester
Malmö SymfoniOrkester (MSO) grundades 1925 och består av ca 90 heltidsanställda yrkesmusiker från nästan 20 länder. Orkestern är stolt bärare av den traditionella symfoniska repertoaren, men strävar också efter att föra den symfoniska musiken framåt genom samarbeten med nutida tonsättare och utveckling av nya konsertkoncept.
Flera inspelningar med Malmö SymfoniOrkester har under åren blivit internationellt uppmärksammade med första pris i tävlingar som Cannes Classical Awards och Diapason d’Or. I augusti 2013 inledde orkestern tillsammans med chefsdirigent Marc Soustrot det omfattande arbetet att spela in all symfonisk musik av Camille Saint-Saëns, allt som allt åtta CDs, på skivbolaget Naxos.
Läs mer om Malmö SymfoniOrkester genom att klicka här.
Juraj Valčuha dirigent
Sedan oktober 2016 är Juraj Valčuha chefsdirigent för Teatro di San Carlo i Neapel. Han är också förste gästdirigent för Konzerthausorchester Berlin. Dirigentbanan har varit stadigt stigande, och ända sedan debuten med Orchestre National de France 2005 har Valčuha samarbetat med ledande orkestrar som Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Berliner Philharmoniker, New York Philharmonic, Gewandhausorchester Leipzig och Rotterdam Philharmonic. Nu arbetar han regelbundet med topporkestrarna världen över. Valčuha studerade komposition och dirigering i Bratislava, och därefter dirigering i St. Petersburg för Ilya Musin. Han avslutade sina dirigentstudier i Paris.
Susanja Nielsen viola
Susanja Nielsen är utbildad på Edsberg slott i Stockholm, Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler i Berlin och på Koninklijk Konservatorium i Bryssel hos professor Ulf Wallin och professor Kati Sebestyen. Under sin studietid i Berlin var hon även akademist i Deutsche SymphonieOrchester och medlem av Live Music Now. 2015 anställdes hon som stämledare i NorrlandsOperans symfoniorkester och sedan 2018 är hon stämledare i Malmö SymfoniOrkester.
Hon är en flitig kammarmusiker och solist och har bland annat spelat som solist med Aarhus Symfoniorkester, Helsingborg Symfoniorkester, NorrlandsOperans Symfoniorkester och Randers Kammerorkester. Hon är även pristagare i Den Danske Strygerkonkurrence, Solofonipriset och Jakob Gade violinkonkurrence.
Last updated 2020-08-21
Nielsens No. 4
SCENE Concert Hall
DURATION approx. 1 hour 40 minutes with intermission
PROGRAMME
Carl Nielsen Heliosouvertyr
Béla Bartók Concert for viola and orchestra
- intermission -
Carl Nielsen Symfony No. 4 ”Det uudslukkelige”
PARTICIPANTS
Malmö Symphony Orchestra
Juraj Valčuha conductor
Susanja Nielsen viola
ORGANIZER Malmö Live Konserthus
CONCERT INTRODUCTION:
Concert introduction at the Canal stage at 6pm.