RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra in Galway
Programme:
SIBELIUS
Finlandia / 8’
BEETHOVEN
Triple Concerto for Violin, Cello & Piano / 33’
TCHAIKOVSKY ’
Symphony No. 7, ‘The Symphony of Life’ / 40
Three giants of the 19th century, three masterpieces and the Fidelio Trio. Perhaps three really is the perfect number after all!
Rooted in Finnish soil, Sibelius’s Finlandia is a patriotic and passionate tribute to a country breaking free from Russian occupation, its famous middle section (borrowed for the hauntingly beautiful hymn Be still, my soul) a stirring, unofficial national anthem.
The ‘compelling and electrifying’ (Sunday Tribune) Fidelio Trio join the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra for Beethoven’s remarkable Triple Concerto – a one-of-a-kind from the German genius. And proof that three into one does go as violin, cello and piano join the orchestra in a rich, beautifully balanced dialogue between equals.
‘Composed simply for the sake of composing’, Tchaikovsky’s Seventh Symphony was abandoned before it was finished (composers, eh?) and later reconstructed by a.n.other. A patchwork quilt of borrowed themes, it’s Tchaikovsky without the angst: light, effervescent and dance-like. Making the most of what a symphony orchestra can do, it’s not called The Symphony of Life for nothing.