The Nima Trio, consisting of members of the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra, will perform string trios by Beethoven, Boccherini, Krása and Kahn at the Elbphilharmonie Recital Hall.
Many phases in her extensive oeuvre betray Sofia Gubaidulina’s fascination with the sound of a large string section playing the low registers. She has written several pieces for cello ensemble, and the double bass also plays a prominent role in a number of her works. So the idea seemed to suggest itself of devoting a concert to this special preference of the now 92-year-old composer, who lives near Hamburg, thus producing a special »Portrait of Sofia Gubaidulina«. The centrepiece of the evening’s programme is the five-movement Concerto for Bassoon and low strings, written in Russia in 1975, the year of Shostakovich’s death. The rarely-heard work is one of the compositions that display the influence of this towering figure of Soviet music on Gubaidulina’s »middle style«. It is also well-known that Shostakovich encouraged and sponsored her as a young composer. The concerto’s fascination lies in the exceptionally varied and virtuoso sounds of by the low register, as well as the direct appeal of the solo part, taken here by the NDR’s solo bassoonist David Spranger. The concerto is flanked by two pieces scored for a larger cello ensemble. 2002’s »Mirage« with its light fantasies is a fine example of the nature mysticism to be found in Gubaidulina’s late works. »Am Rande des Abgrunds«, written at about the same time, is one of her most frequently-performed compositions, and surprises the listener with its use of two rich-sounding waterphones. Sofia Gubaidulina has a long-standing connection with the NDR. Among the memorable products of their cooperation are many performances put on by the NDR Chor (now known as the NDR Vokalensemble) – particularly the big first performances of the St John’s Passion and the Easter Oratorio in St. Michael’s Church, Hamburg, in March 2002.
How do societies remember? With history books, archives – and music! In his recently published book »Time’s Echo«, the American author and music critic Jeremy Eichler (»The Boston Globe«) explores how composers such as Richard Strauss, Arnold Schönberg and Dmitri Shostakovich experienced the Second World War and later processed those experiences in moving works. In conversation with Alan Gilbert, the chief conductor of the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra, Eichler talks about his passionate account of the power of music as cultural memory. Members of the orchestra perform the – thematically apt – string septet version of Strauss’s famous »Metamorphosen«, which the composer wrote in response to the destruction of his home city, Munich.
ConcertPulse