Philharmonia Orchestra

Inexhaustible soundscapes - The endless forests, the icy expanse, the juxtaposition of ruggedness and idyll are characteristics of the Finnish landscape that exert an immense fascination. And these are images that appear again and again in the compositions of Jean Sibelius - whether the composer deliberately conjures them up in the titles of his tone poems or whether they arise from the topography of his symphonies. Sibelius was one of the first students at the Academy of Music in Helsinki, now named after him, which today reliably produces exciting new artistic personalities. Recently, this included the young Santtu-Matias Rouvali, who switched to the conductor's baton after years on the percussion mallets. Honorary conductor of the Tampere Philharmonic Orchestra and former head of the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, he has been at the helm of the British Philharmonia Orchestra since 2021, which recently set a program focus with "Nordic Soundscapes" under Rouvali's powerful, dance-like conducting. When returning to the Albert concerts, the Finnish conductor can thus, as is his custom, "always bring a piece from my home country with me. Something like a Finnish identity or mentality".

Sergei Prokofiev was also preoccupied with his homeland during his exile in Paris, where he sought distance from the political situation in Russia. However, he confessed in letters how much he wished "to see real winters again and the spring that breaks out from one moment to the next". His second violin concerto reflects this longing; composed partly in Paris, partly in Baku, partly in Voronezh and premiered in Madrid, it also tells of the cosmopolitan life of the internationally acclaimed artist. World star Hilary Hahn - already acclaimed early on as a specialist for Prokofiev's unruly first concerto - is able to illuminate both the wild and the ethereal side of the composer in the Violin Concerto No. 2.

Program:
Sibelius, En saga. Symphonic Poem op. 9
Prokofiev, Violin Concerto No. 2 in G minor op. 63
Rachmaninov, Symphonic Dances op. 45

Hilary Hahn, violin
Santtu-Matias Rouvali, conductor
Philharmonia Orchestra

With the kind support of the Freunde und Förderer der Albert Konzerte e.V.

EUR 135,- / 120,- / 99,- / 75,- / 55,- incl. fees

Hilary Hahn | Photo © Chris Lee