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Schumann
Genoveva - overture, Op. 81
Liszt
Orpheus - symphonic poem
Liszt
Prometheus - symphonic poem
Sibelius
Improvisation for orchestra ("La tristesse du printemps” - early version of Vårsång), Op. 16
In spite of the fact that the current extraordinary situation prevents us all from meeting at Müpa Budapest in person, we would still like to make the coming days nicer and more uplifting. This is why we are broadcasting this performance from Helsinki's Musiikkitalo concert hall on our website and YouTube channel.
We look forward to welcoming you in front of your screen on the date of the event!
The performance will be broadcasted on our website and YouTube channel.
Founded in 1997, the Helsinki Baroque Orchestra is a home for the young generation of performers of historically informed early music: musicians who have given many forgotten works their modern-day premières while also often playing familiar pieces with a new interpretation. For this concert, they are bringing a selection from the Romantic repertoire - but it's certainly not an everyday occurrence to hear Liszt's symphonic poems being played on period instruments!
Premièred in Leipzig in 1850, Schumann's four-act opera Genoveva, his sole dramatic work and one resembling Wagner's Lohengrin in terms of plot, was not successful in its own time and even today is only rarely presented at opera houses. This is what makes it an exceptional opportunity for us to be able to hear the overture. It is equally rare to encounter the early version of Sibelius's short 1894 symphonic poem Vårsång (Spring Song), as even in its later revised form it is not played terribly frequently at concerts in Hungary. The more familiar part of the concert consists of two popular symphonic poems that Liszt wrote in the mid-1850s. The two works depict two mythological heroes: Orpheus and Prometheus. The former has a gentle tone and bestows an important role on the harp, the instrument the Thracian minstrel plays to accompany his bewitching singing. The latter is stormy and forceful: tragic music with a dark tone. Aapo Häkkinen, the Helsinki Baroque Orchestra's current conductor, was born in 1976. He started his musical education as a choral singer, then went on to study the harpsichord with such masters as Elina Mustonen, Bob van Asperen, Pierre Hantaï and Gustav Leonhardt, achieving success at numerous international competitions. He has served as the Helsinki Baroque Orchestra's artistic director since 2003.
The broadcast is a co-production of the Helsinki Baroque Orchestra and Müpa Budapest.
The recording was made on 23 May 2021 at Helsinki's Musiikkitalo concert hall.
Presented by: Müpa Budapest
