This evening, Dohnányi Orchestra will be led by Taiwan-born conductor Yu-An Chang performing works by Szentpáli, Beethoven and Sibelius.
First up we will be transported to the grandiose world of Beethoven with the German composer’s Choral Fantasy, which was written in a record time, as Beethoven had a sudden idea to make it the final piece of a charity concert that had already been organised. The concert was the première of Beethoven’s Symphonies No. 5 and 6, which took place on 22 December 1808. The evening concluded with the Choral Fantasy for piano, solo singer, mixed choir and orchestra, with Beethoven himself playing the piano, allegedly improvising his complete part on the spot.
After then the next piece is an audience favourite, Rapszódia (Rhapsody) by the young Hungarian tuba player and composer Roland Szentpáli – with elements of folk music, it promises to be a real one-man show for our clarinettist Bence Szepesi.
Finally, we are closing the evening with Sibelius’s Symphony No. 2, which is also known with the by-name ‘independence’, because it has long symbolised Finland’s aspirations for independence from Russia. Sibelius wrote this work after his stay in Italy, which had a great influence on him. This work is more spirit-filled than his first symphony; the composer himself called it ‘a confession of the soul’.
