The Brno Philharmonic to Stream Online. National Premiere of a Work by Philip Glass

22 March 2021, 2:00
The Brno Philharmonic to Stream Online. National Premiere of a Work by Philip Glass

The Brno Philharmonic is preparing another performance for streaming online. Two symphonies are scheduled – by Johannes Brahms and Philip Glass. The composers’ respective Symphony No. 2 have been chosen, making it the Czech premiere of the piece by Glass. The concert – to be streamed live from the Community Hall (Besední dům) venue – will be conducted by chief conductor Dennis Russell Davies, who shall also interview Philip Glass during the interval.

“Despite the obvious visual appeal of the same symphony numbers appearing on the programme and poster, linking the two was informed by a more profound artistic intention. Both composers were determined to proceed from their first symphonies at their relevant time of maturity – 45 years for Brahms, 35 years for Glass – to freeing themselves from the influences of others (for Brahms it was Beethoven, and David Bowie for Glass) in their second symphonies, once and for all, thereby forging completely original pieces“, commented the dramaturge of the Brno Philharmonic, Vítězslav Mikeš.

Most of the orchestra shall get together after nearly six weeks. “Of course, everything is in compliance with all the regulations that are increasingly stringent. But even so, our desire to perform wins out. On the other hand, we don’t think it makes sense to stream just anything live, so we’re choosing worthwhile projects, the sort we view as key for the entire season. Yet we’ll have to leave out some works, for example those with choral sections“, said Brno Philharmonic’s Director General Marie Kučerová.

The online concert is scheduled for 8 p.m. on 15 April 2021. You can watch it here or on Brno Philharmonics FB / YT channel. During the interval, the audience can look forward to an interview with Phil Glass by Chief Conductor Dennis Russell Davies. “We’ve been cooperating for about forty years, all-in-all. It started out with me as general musical director at the Stuttgart State Opera, when I was conducting an amazing new staging of his early operas, Satyagraha and Akhnaten, continuing in New York, where I set about conducting the premieres of his First Violin Concert, the Low symphony and other orchestral and chamber pieces. Before he penned Symphony 2, we became close friends (and also fathers), with a very similar outlook on music and life in general“, said Davies. Glass dedicated his Symphony No. 2 to the Brooklyn Philharmonic and to Davies alone, since they premiered it on 15 October 1994.

Symphony No. 2 was an important milestone in Glass’ creative life, as it was his final commitment to following the tradition of symphonies, albeit exclusively with his own rhythmic and melodic leanings. “I conducted Symphony 2 several times in the 1990s, but haven’t done since then, so I’m very much looking forward to the opportunity to taking up the challenge once again, all the more so as it will be with the Brno Philharmonic“, adds Davies.

Brahms ‘Symphony No. 2, which is to start the event, was created about a year after Symphony No. 1. It debuted on 30 December 1877 in Vienna, under Hans Richter. In January of the following year, it was conducted by the author himself in the Gewandhaus, Leipzig, and a month later in Amsterdam and the Hague.

Photograph: Andreas Bitesnich

Comments

Reply

No comment added yet..

Another of the jazz evenings regularly organised by the Brno Philharmonic was dedicated to the duo Will Vinson (alto saxophone) and Aaron Parks (piano). These musicians have been working together in various formations for twenty years. So they decided that it was time to try the most intimate and, according to many, the most difficult - playing as a mere duo. These mid-generation jazz musicians performed a selection of classical jazz material as well as several of their own compositions on Monday 10 March at the Besední dům.  more

This year's first concert by the Brno Contemporary Orchestra from the Auscultation series was entitled Gastro (Cuisine), or Dinner for Magdalena Dobromila Rettig (1785-1845). On Sunday, 2 February, the orchestra performed two compositions, or rather performances and happenings by Ondřej Adámek (*1979), who also conducted the pieces, in the dining room of the Masaryk Student House. This was a fairly unusual situation for the audience, when conductor Pavel Šnajdr did not take his place at the head of the orchestra.  more

The fourth concert in the Brno Philharmonic's Philharmonic at Home subscription series, subtitled Metamorphoses and conducted by Dennis Russell Davies, was dedicated to works by Joseph Haydn, Antonín Rejcha and Richard Strauss. Pianist Ivan Ilić was originally scheduled to appear as soloist in Rejcha's Piano Concerto, but for health reasons he cancelled the concert. Jan Bartoš promptly took over, enabling the audience to hear the original programme on Thursday 30 January at the Besední dům.  more

The Brno Philharmonic's New Year's concert on 1 January at the Janáček Theatre is already a well-established tradition. This year was no exception, and the orchestra, led by conductor Michel Tabachnik, gave a performance consisting mainly of works by Johann Strauss the Younger. This was the Brno Philharmonic Orchestra's show opening the 'Strauss Year'. After all, 2025 is the 200th anniversary of the birth of the composer, dubbed the king of waltzes. Strauss's compositions were accompanied by works by Erich Wolfgang Korngold, Richard Strauss and Dimitri Shostakovich.  more

"Culture is a Bridge" was the theme of the second Czech-Austrian Partnership Concert, held on Friday, 20 December at Schloss Thalheim. It was the final evening of the 5th year of the pan-European project Czech Dreams 2024, and also part of the celebrations of the Year of Czech Music and the Concentus Moraviae international music festival. Culture is a bridge that connects not only different generations and social classes, but also entire nations. And the Czech Dreams project, which in 2024 alone presented music by Czech composers in 25 European cities in 17 different countries, is an eloquent example of this. In December alone, besides the final concert in Austria, six more concerts were performed in southern Europe, from Amarante in Portugal to Varaždin in Croatia. The concert was dedicated to the Lower Austrian Governor Erwin Pröll, who has long been committed to building and deepening relations between the Czech Republic and Austria.  more