brochure in PDF - Edinburgh International Festival

42
01
Music
‘the LSO responded to
[Gergiev’s] fluttering
gesture with amazing
virtuosity’ ��� ���������������
Nicola Benedetti Violin
Szymanowski Symphony No 1
Violin Concerto No 1
Brahms Symphony No 1
Powerhouse conductor Valery Gergiev, the Edinburgh International
Festival’s Honorary President, brings the London Symphony Orchestra
to the festival for what promises to be a fascinating four-concert
residency contrasting the glowing nobility of Brahms with the exotic,
perfumed passions of Szymanowski.
It was her performance of Szymanowski’s Violin Concerto No 1 that
won Ayrshire-born violinist Nicola Benedetti the BBC Young Musician
title in 2004 at the age of 16, and the Polish composer’s sensuous,
mystical music has been in her blood ever since.
eif.co.uk/lso1
2 hours approximately
02
Brahms Tragic Overture
Szymanowski Symphony No 2
Brahms Symphony No 2
Brahms’s Second is the sunniest of the composer’s four symphonies,
its cheerful, pastoral mood drawing comparisons with Beethoven’s
well-loved ‘Pastoral’ Symphony. The piece’s tender melodies and genial
intimacy are only clouded by the briefest of storms in the brooding slow
movement, revealing the steely strength behind the naive charm that
Brahms evokes in the work.
Szymanowski’s dramatic Second Symphony, on the other hand, is a
grand statement that shows the impact of Mahler and Richard Strauss,
while also drawing on the lush impressionism of Debussy. Sensuous and
passionate, and scored for a huge orchestra, it has gorgeous melodies,
brilliant colours and a magnificent conclusion.
eif.co.uk/lso2
1 hour 45 minutes approximately
Photo Joachim Ladefoged / VII