Music
Symphonie espagnole. LNSO, Kristīne Balanas, Victorien Vanoosten
About this event
Performers: Lithuanian national symphony orchestra (Artistic Director and Principal Conductor Modestas Pitrėnas) Soloist KRISTĪNE BALANAS (violin, Latvia) Conductor VICTORIEN VANOOSTEN (France)
Program: EMMANUEL CHABRIER – Rhapsody for orchestra "España" ÉDOUARD LALO – "Symphonie espagnole" for violin and orchestra in D minor, Op. 21 BÉLA BARTÓK – Concerto for Orchestra, Sz. 116
This evening, the Lithuanian National Symphony Orchestra and its principal guest conductor Victorien Vanoosten perform with Latvian violinist Kristīne Balanas. The foreign press describes her playing as "wild, daring, dramatic" (The Strad) and marvels at the soloist's transformation from a street musician and rock singer in Latvia to an internationally acclaimed classical music performer. K. Balanas is a third-prize winner of the 66th ARD International Music Competition and has been awarded the Latvian Grand Music Award; the soloist has performed in concert halls such as the Berlin Philharmonie, London's Southbank Centre, and New York's Carnegie Hall.
The program of this concert echoes with sounds of Spanish themes. French composer Emmanuel Chabrier's rhapsody for orchestra "España" (1883) is one of his most prominent works, created after a trip to Spain where he became interested in local folklore. The son of an immigrant from Spain, Édouard Lalo studied violin and composition at the Paris Conservatory, and became famous as a composer in 1875 after the renowned Spanish violinist Pablo de Sarasate performed his "Symphonie espagnole." The work is characterized by external brilliance, effective virtuosity, and is rich in dance rhythms; some episodes are shrouded in elegiac sadness.
Béla Bartók, a Hungarian composer, wrote his Concerto for Orchestra, Sz. 116, at the end of his life in 1943, after fleeing to the USA from the war in Europe. The title "Concerto for Orchestra" was chosen because the work aimed to showcase each major instrument of the orchestra as a soloist, combining them into groups that compete with one another, and sought to reveal the orchestra in all its timbral colors: the opus is akin to the instrumental concerto genre, and the orchestral parts are characterized by virtuosity.
