Myths and legends at KSO season concert on 27th of October

Published 18.10.2022

Kaija Saariaho’s violin concerto Graal Théătre interpreted by the Norwegian Peter Herresthal

The program of the KSO season concert on the 27th of October at 7 pm at the Concert Hall of the Kuopio Music Centre is inspired by ancient stories. A movement of the tragic love story of Romeo and Juliet will be followed by two compositions by Kaija Saariaho, who is celebrating her 70th anniversary. The Norwegian Peter Herresthal will interpret Saariaho’s famous violin concerto Graal Théătre and aria Vers toi qui es si loin. The concert will end with an adventure with swans and peacocks, Josef Suk’s Pohádka. The KSO will be conducted by Saariaho’s daughter, Aliisa Neige Barrière.

All the pieces of the KSO concert Myths and Legends are connected by medieval stories and theatre. The music of Sergey Prokofiev’s ballet Romeo and Juliet is enjoyable also without dancers and the composer arranged three suites for orchestra from the music. The concert will begin with the first movement of the second suite, introducing the two families fighting with each other, the Montagues and Capulets.

The violin concerto Graal Théâtre by Kaija Saariaho was born when the composer was expecting her daughter, the conductor of this KSO concert. The name of the concerto comes from the book with the same name written by Florence Delay and Jacques Roubaud. It tells ten versions about the legends of the knights of the round table and King Arthur. According to Saariaho the headline expresses the tension between the composer of the music and the theatrical aspect of the performance, especially in the concerto, where the soloist is in a crucial role both physically and musically.

The Norwegian Peter Herresthal has performed many works of Saariaho and asked a permission from the composer in 2018 to rehearse her beautiful aria from the ending scene of the first opera L’Amour de Loin. As a surpirse the composer sent Herresthal an arrangement of the aria Vers toi qui es si loin for solo violin and orchestra.

The concert will end with the Czech Josef Suk’s Pohádka (Fairytale) which is originally composed for a play by Julius Zeyer. In the play the situation is the same as in Romeo and Juliet: two children from the enemy camps fall in love. The KSO will be conducted by Aliisa Neige Barrière, who works also as a violinist. Her both parents are composers – the French Jean-Babtiste Barrière and one of the most known Finnish composers, Kaija Saariaho, who celebrated her 70th anniversary on the 14th of October.

The duration of the concert is about 1 hour 30 minutes, including interval.

Tickets: 33 € / 27 € senior citizens and groups min. 20 persons / 11 € children under 16 and students / 4 € concert day discount ticket for students and youth under 20 years. Prices include the Kuopio Music Centre service fee 2 € / ticket. The service fees vary depending on the place of purchase.

KUOPIO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
Producer & Publicity Manager Elina Prepula, tel. 044 718 2364, elina.prepula(at)kuopio.fi
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