On May 3rd, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra are joined by rising star Sunwook Kim (piano) on the stage of the Portsmouth Guildhall for a programme of emotive Romantic works, to include Sibelius’ Valse Triste, Brahms’ Second Piano Concerto and Dvorak’s Seventh Symphony. South Korean pianist Sunwook Kim won the Leeds International Piano Competition in 2006 at the age of 18, becoming the competition’s youngest winner for forty years.
The Valse Triste was written to accompany the 1903 play Kuolema, written by
Sibelius’ brother-in-law. It portrays a dance of death between a dying woman and
the grim reaper. The work is a gem of a miniature masterpiece as it uses its
small orchestra evocatively and effectively. Its central melody is memorable and
the passages for muted strings that bookend the piece, are both haunting and
poignant.
With his Second Piano Concerto, Brahms created music to get lost in – a vast canvas on which he paints scenes of serenity, strife, beauty and the human condition. Unlike the first, this concerto was immediately greeted with both popular and critical approval. It has the breadth and scope of a symphony combined with the masterful technical
demands of a piano concerto. Many pianists consider it one of the most difficult
concertos in the repertoire.
The Seventh Symphony marked an important
milestone in Dvorák’s creative life. It was also the earliest of his nine
symphonies to have captured and held popular approval, and it remains
unsurpassed among his works for profundity of conception and consummate
craftsmanship. Its dramatic flow from one movement to the next, each filled with
a pent-up sense of inner tragedy and strength, is remarkable – a succession of
inspired melodies are woven into an unbroken chain of majestic music with
amazing emotional appeal.
More information and tickets are available here: http://www.chooseyourevent.co.uk/events-guide/event/bournemouth-symphony-orchestra-romantic-genius/76012