ILYO / Neumann / Olesik / The Sound of Youth - NOSPR

International Lutosławski Youth Orchestra (ILYO) is an international ensemble composed of outstanding students and recent graduates of music academies from around the world, selected each year through a highly competitive audition process attracting hundreds of applicants. As one of the few initiatives of its kind in Europe, the orchestra has performed in leading concert halls, including the Gewandhaus in Leipzig, the Konzerthaus Berlin, and the National Forum of Music in Wrocław. Since its founding in 2013, the project has been organised by the Szczecin Philharmonic, where ILYO performs annually.

“Grażyna Bacewicz was undoubtedly a creative phenomenon – indeed, one on a global scale,” wrote Stefan Kisielewski in 1964. Bacewicz was, in every sense, a force of nature. She combined her work as a composer with a successful career as a virtuoso violinist of international standing. The First World War formed the backdrop of her childhood, while the Second provided the context in which her first orchestral work, the Overture for Orchestra, came into being. Written in German-occupied Warsaw in 1943, it is a brief yet striking composition, driven by rhythmic energy and shaped by vivid contrasts.

In contrast to Bacewicz, Jean Sibelius – though he once aspired to a career as a violin virtuoso – never fulfilled that ambition. His hopes were effectively curbed during auditions for the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra. The jury’s verdict, a restrained “not bad,” was accompanied by a discreet suggestion that he might consider a different professional path. He did just that, becoming one of the most distinguished Scandinavian composers in history. His Violin Concerto is now among the most frequently performed works of its kind. It is a masterpiece that Sibelius himself would never have been able to perform to his own satisfaction as a soloist. Perhaps it was precisely this unfulfilled dream of becoming a virtuoso violinist that led to the creation of this remarkable work – and also explains why he never wrote another violin concerto.

Pictures at an Exhibition, originally composed by Modest Mussorgsky as an expansive cycle of ten piano miniatures, remains his best-known work – though much of its popularity is owed to Maurice Ravel (1875–1937). Half a century after the original was written, the French composer arranged it for large symphony orchestra, transforming the piece into a dazzling display of orchestral colour and securing its place in the concert repertoire. The work was Mussorgsky’s musical response to a posthumous exhibition of works by his friend, the painter, architect and designer Viktor Hartmann. The composer translated ten of the artist’s most evocative images into sound, creating a cycle of extraordinary pictorial power. At the same time, he introduced his own presence into the narrative through the recurring Promenade – a guiding musical idea that leads the listener from one image to the next. Mussorgsky’s genius and his remarkable ability to paint in sound have inspired generations of composers. Dozens of orchestral versions of this piano masterpiece have since been created. None, however, matches the refinement, colour and precision of Ravel’s version – the most celebrated orchestral incarnation of a work that has continued to captivate audiences for over a century.

Aleksandra Bednarska

Concert duration (intermission included): approximately 110 minutes

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