HCMC – A Night of Jean Sibelius

Tue 19 Dec 2017, 8 pm
HCMC Opera House

From the organizer:

Neighboring Norway is Finland, or Land of Thousand Lakes, famous worldwide for not only a rich folk music tradition (and extremely catchy melodies) but also one of the modern’s main exports of beautiful music worldwide: you have it all, from the epic Kalevala, the kantele’s charming sounds to heavy metal. In celebration of Finland’s 100th anniversary, Finland’s most precious gift to the world in general and musical legacy in particular, Jean Sibelius will be presented with his two works: a technically challenging Concerto for Violin in D minor, Op. 47, particularly the 3rd movement Allegro ma non tanto to be handled by Vu Viet Chuong. Scottish musicologist Donald Tovey called the concerto “polonaise for polar bears”, partially perhaps due to the technical demands throughout the work’s wide range of expression. Some imagines enjoying the Concerto is like watching an icy nature, and Jean himself made comparison its third movement with dance macabre (his wife, Aino, described the composer being possessed as he kept playing in his violin endless ideas day and night).

Nowadays, Concerto for Violin in D minor is the most performed and recorded composition in the 20th century, and in the 21st century there are over 50 recordings of the piece in existence.

The second work, 2nd Symphony in D major, Op. 43 will be presented by Finnish conductor Kalle Kuusava and HBSO’s symphony orchestra. Written in the final years of Russian reign in Finland, the work is highly heroic and strangely optimistic and elevates Jean Sibelius to the status of national hero, while nicknamed the Independence Symphony. Karl Flodin in 1903 dubbed the work as “an absolute masterpiece, one of the few symphonic creations of our time that point in the same direction as the symphonies of Beethoven”.

Tickets

Admissions: 550.000 – 400.000 – 350.000 – 200.000 – 80.000VNĐ (Student area)
Booking and delivery: 028 38237419, Ms. Ngoc: 0903604539
At HCMC Opera House, 7 Lam Son Square
Online Booking: www.ticketbox.vn

For reference: Violinist Maxim Vengerov performs Jean Sibelius’ Violin Concerto in D minor, Op. 47 with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra: