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PROGRAMME
- P. EÖTVÖS Aurora
- L. v. BEETHOVEN Piano Concerto No. 4
- F. MENDELSSOHN BARTHOLDY Symphony No. 4 "Italian"
- Elim Chan conductor
- Maria João Pires piano
- Rick Stotijn double bass
ABOUT THIS CONCERT
Portuguese pianist Maria João Pires is loved by audiences worldwide for her warm tone and thoughtful interpretations. In 2023, MCO members, who traditionally form a large part of the Lucerne Festival Orchestra every summer, had the pleasure of performing Mozart's "Jeunehomme" piano concerto together with Pires. The MCO is happy to continue this inspiring collaboration during a tour that will take us to Italy and France.
This evening will open with Peter Eötvös’ “Aurora”,
written in 2019 and reflecting the Hungarian composer’s witnessing of a natural
phenomenon, the Northern Lights or Aurora Borealis: “Such a tremendous thing,
such an array of moving colors, I had never seen before. It was not only
beautiful but also very powerful, almost threatening, and monumental. In Aurora,
I tried to convey my own impressions – feeling like a part of the cosmos in
that moment.”
Beethoven’s Fourth Piano Concerto in the serene
tonality of G major, which the composer himself publicly premiered at the
Theater an der Wien in 1808, represents musical dialogue at its best, with the
solo piano setting the tone right at the beginning of the first movement. Maria
João Pires is the MCO’s wonderful partner for what is maybe the most
chamber-music-inspired of the composer's five concertos for piano and
orchestra.
And since we are in Italy, what could be more fitting
for the second half of this concert evening than Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy’s fourth symphony in A Major, conceived during the composer’s trip to Italy in
1830? “It will be the jolliest piece I have ever done, especially the last
movement”, Mendelssohn commented in a letter to his sister Fanny.
With ascending conductor Elim Chan, this is our second tour; we will again share the stage with her during our MCO Academy tour in February 2025.
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