RSO Wien / Alsop / Liu / From Chopin to Bernstein - NOSPR

It should come as no surprise that, in the Guest Orchestras series, a familiar figure will appear on the podium. Marin Alsop is, after all, not only the Artistic Director of NOSPR, but also the Honorary Conductor of the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra.

The Vienna orchestra’s debut in Katowice will open with the overture to the operetta Candide by Marin Alsop’s famous mentor, Leonard Bernstein. Voltaire’s story is filled with wild, almost implausible adventures, permeated by a spirit of philosophical irony. This mood is perfectly captured by the brilliant and sparkling overture, which immediately arouses curiosity about the further development of the plot.

When Bruce Liu performed Concerto in E minor at the 18th International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition, his electrifying interpretation left no doubt as to who would take the top prize. Since then, as might be expected, he has performed the work almost incessantly, accompanied by orchestras across the globe. Interestingly, critics often note that each of his renditions is alive with new ideas, shaped by the unique interplay with his orchestral partners in the given concert. Thus, if echoes of his memorable performance with the NOSPR are still ringing in your ears, feel invited to discover a different facet of Concertoin E minor, which Liu will now create in partnership with the Vienna musicians.

In the early sketches for Prokofiev’s ballet, the tale of the lovers of Verona was intended to have a happy ending. But in Russia, it is not always the author who decides whether the protagonists of his story deserve to live happily ever after. When the composer began working on the score, he was still travelling extensively, dividing his time between Paris and Moscow. Shortly after completing the work, he settled permanently in Moscow, never to leave the Soviet Union again. The optimism that had characterised the early stages of the composition was soon tempered by Soviet realities. The authorities of the Bolshoi Theatre, who had commissioned the work, initially deemed Prokofiev’s music unsuitable for dancing. The composer therefore created two orchestral suites from the ballet’s score, which were easier to perform in concert and were intended to increase interest in the stage version.

Szymon Maliszewski