Important information
- The outstanding pianist Hélène Grimaud has also made a name for herself as a dedicated conservationist, an empathetic fighter for human rights, and writer.
- The composer Gustav Mahler began his conducting career in Ljubljana
Programme:
E. Schulhoff: Five pieces for string quartet (version for string orchestra and percussion)
M. Ravel: Piano Concerto in G major
G. Mahler: Symphony No. 1 in D Major, »Titan«
The enigmatic French pianist, Hélène Grimaud, is admired by critics for her deeply felt interpretations, which always leave a strong impression on listeners. When she was 17, Daniel Barenboim invited her to collaborate with the Orchestre de Paris, and this opened the doors for her to perform with the most outstanding orchestras, including the Berlin Philharmonic (under Claudio Abbado) and the New York Philharmonic (Kurt Masur). In addition to her musical career, Grimaud is also the founder of the Wolf Conservation Center, which strives to prevent several endangered species of this animal from extinction. Together with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra – considered to be one of the best orchestras in America – conducted by their long-serving music director Manfred Honeck who, following years of playing the viola in the Vienna Philharmonic trained as a conductor with Claudio Abbado, Grimaud will perform a jazz-flavoured and sensitive rendition of the melody of the central movement of the eternal Concerto for Piano and Orchestra in G Major by Maurice Ravel. Alongside the piano concerto, the orchestra’s artistic director has also chosen Symphony No. 1 in D Major by Ravel’s older contemporary Gustav Mahler, and Five Pieces for String Quartet by the Czech composer Erwin Schulhoff.
