Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho (*1952) draws listeners into her soundscape: From the brooding darkness of the opening bars, the audience finds itself dragged into the unfolding nightmare. The libretto by Sofi Oksanen interweaves two narratives of a school shooting. One focuses on the students and their teacher who were present at the time of the massacre. The second is set in the present day at a wedding with the family of the shooter celebrating their innocent son’s marriage. A thriller-like intensity shifts time levels and a mixture of nine languages. “The most powerful work Saariaho has written in a career now in its fifth decade” (The New York Times). Director Simon Stone approaches this multi-layered subject with sensitivity and empathy, supported by Susanna Malkki’s fine reading of the score on the rostrum of the London Symphony Orchestra and a great cast including Magdalena Kožena and Sandrine Piau. “A composer creates her masterpiece with Innocence” The New York Times
Anne-Sophie Mutter, John Williams & Friends: A Celebration!
Superstar violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter celebrates her 60th birthday year with a performance she created with her friends and musical colleagues. She joins the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra along with legendary conductor and composer John Williams, longtime friend and pianist Yefim Bronfman, her protégé, cellist Pablo Ferrández, and sought-after conductor Susanna Mälkki. Anne-Sophie Mutter performs the Beethoven Triple Concerto with Yefim Bronfman and Pablo Ferrández in the first half of the evening, under the baton of Susanna Mälkki. The second half will bring Anne-Sophie Mutter together with the legendary conductor and composer John Williams for a special program featuring his compositions. This one-night-only performance is not to be missed!
RCO: Made in America
Don’t miss the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in an all-American extravaganza from their illustrious home venue in Amsterdam! Susanna Mälkki leads a program entitled “Made in America,” exploring American identity across three rare, well-chosen works. Opening the evening is A Short Piece for Orchestra by 20th-century African-American composer Julia Perry, a neoclassical work of complex and frenetic rhythms tempered by profound lyricism. Next up is the formidable Violin Concerto by John Adams, a revolutionary piece for the instrument whose exceptional melodic richness complements a marvelously original rhythmic frame. Ferociously difficult and rarely played, it is interpreted with brio and assurance by virtuoso violinist Leila Josefowicz. Finally, the concert closes with Charles Ives’s Symphony No. 2, an evocative blend of European influences and New England folklore. PROGRAM Perry: A Short Piece for Orchestra; Adams: Violin Concerto; Ives: Symphony No. 2