Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra

Marko Letonja, conductor

Programme:

R. Strauss: Thus Spoke Zarathustra, op. 30
G. Ligeti: Atmosphères
H. Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique, H 48

This concert evening with the Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra focuses on works by composers who contributed significantly to the treasury of nineteenth and twentieth century music. It begins with the performance of a work by Richard Strauss, one of the most prominent exponents of the early modern era in music, whose symphonic poem Thus Spoke Zarathustra (Op. 30; 1896) was inspired by Friedrich Nietzsche’s homonymous philosophical novel. This will be followed by the orchestral piece Atmosphères by the Hungarian composer György Ligeti, one of the most important avant-garde composers of the latter half of the twentieth century, which was premiered at the Donaueschingen Festival in 1961. Both of these works featured in Stanley Kubrick’s 1968 film 2001: A Space Odyssey. The concert ends with the Symphonie fantastique by the French composer Hector Berlioz. A famous example of tone painting, this 1830 work describes an episode in the composer’s life. Berlioz provided detailed programmatic descriptions of each of the work’s five movements, which are connected into a unified whole by a recurrent musical idea known as an idée fixe. The Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra, which proudly takes its place alongside the world’s oldest symphony orchestras, has confirmed its excellence through numerous performances around the world. The orchestra will be conducted by its former music director Marko Letonja, currently music director of the Strasbourg Philharmonic Orchestra, who is due to take up the position of chief conductor of the Bremer Philharmoniker at the start of the coming season.