Six premieres

Amandante is the first opera by Dutch-Ukrainian composer Maxim Shalygin. Shalygin’s music is adventurously omnivorous, yet rooted in tradition. A spiritual undertone, common in Eastern European music, frequently permeates his work. Amandante is a chamber opera inspired by the ancient Symposium, Plato’s dialogue exploring lust, love, and desire. Staged as a series of tableaux vivants and through a chiaroscuro of emotions, the opera unveils both the radiant beauty of love and its darker, more destructive facets.

Despite the war in their homeland, Ukrainian Nova Opera is creating new productions that reflect the progressive artistic climate in Kyiv. Nova Opera’s unique music theatre blends elements of Gregorian chant, trip hop, avant-garde rock, baroque, and folk music. Their work encompasses a wide range of forms, from traditional theatre to video installations. Their productions, often premiering internationally, have earned widespread critical acclaim.

This is a production of Muziekgebouw Productiehuis in collaboration with Nova Opera, the Greek National Opera and Stichting Ensemble Shapeshift. 

 


Many thanks to:_{Also thanks to Eleonora van Heusden Fonds and Anna H. Toonen Fonds}

Japanese composer Karen Tanaka has written a piano concerto for master pianist Ralph van Raat, and the world premiere is tonight – need we say more? Don’t miss your chance to be a part of history. It comes as no surprise that Ralph van Raat will be performing the work: not only is he a tireless ambassador of new music, but Tanaka also dedicated the second set of her popular Techno Etudes to him. The orchestra is Philzuid, which previously performed the world premiere of Hawar Tafiq’s Bosch Requiem in the Muziekgebouw. 

Tanaka, a student of the great Luciano Berio and Tristan Murail, is writing her first piano concerto at the behest of the Muziekgebouw and the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra. Her music is often inspired by her love of nature and her concern for the climate. The programme concludes with two Russian classics: Borodin’s symphonic poem In the Steppes of Central Asia and Tchaikovsky’s First Symphony – his best, according to the composer himself.

Tip! Also visit the public rehearsal of Tanaka's new work, at 4.30pm on October 10.

Asko|Schönberg establishes both the alpha and omega in the opening concert of the Saariaho Festival. Graal théâtre for violin and ensemble from 1994 was one of Saariaho’s first successful works, and the trumpet concerto HUSH from 2023 is her swan song. The concerto written for jazz trumpeter Verneri Pohjola takes the listener on a journey through her life. A haunting work that is even more impressive in this ensemble version. 

‘Each concerto is in a way a portrait of the soloist for whom it was written’, Kaija Saariaho said of HUSH. Graal théâtre, her first concerto, written for Gidon Kremer, is such a portrait. Asko|Schönberg and violinist Joseph Puglia have played the piece so many times that they’ve truly made it their own. Nice to know: the important trumpet part in Graal théâtre returns in HUSH, her last concert.