Soloists: Melina Todorovska, cor anglais; Martin Sušnik,tenor

Conductor: Simon Krečič

Programme:

Luciano Berio (1925–2003): Rendering
Pavel Mihelčič (1937): Midnight Serenade
Witold Lutosławski (1913–1994): Chain 3
Pavel Mihelčič: Plea of the Dying Hero
Pavel Mihelčič: Disappearing Pictures

The inaugural concert of the 31st Slovene Music Days interweaves the creativity of one of Slovenia’s most active and important musical personalities, Pavel Mihelčič, and two influential figures from the second half of the twentieth century whom Mihelčič admires immensely: the Italian composer Luciano Berio and the Polish composer Witold Lutosławski. The programme includes orchestral works by these two composers written just three years apart. Both scores play with motivic material, which each composer uses in his own way. Berio’s Rendering uses fragments of Schubert’s unfinished Symphony No 10, which only survives as sketches. Berio orchestrated Schubert’s fragments and incorporated them into the work unaltered. He then filled in the missing sections with an entirely different sonority, creating an effect of distance and in this way emphasising the gaps in the original. Lutosławski’s work Chain 3 uses original techniques to achieve a distinct chromaticism and multiple layers of sound. “Chain form”, as it is known, links together fragmentary musical ideas to create a dynamic musical flow; through the use of aleatoric processes the repeated musical motifs in some sections of the composition create a seemingly complex counterpoint. The Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra also presents a selection of works by Pavel Mihelčič for soloists and orchestra. The soloist in Polnočna serenada, playing the cor anglais, is the Macedonian-born oboist Melina Todorovska, a member of the Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra since 1992. The young tenor Martin Sušnik, an increasingly established presence on the opera stage, will sing Prošnja umirajočega junaka from the cycle Štiri slovenske ljudske pesmi (Four Slovene Folk Songs). The programme also includes the colourful Slike, ki izginjajo, a composition for which Mihelčič won the 1984 Župančič Prize. The orchestra is conducted by Simon Krečič, a conductor with a growing international reputation who since 2013 has held the position of artistic director of the Maribor Opera at the Slovene National Theatre, Maribor.

Free entrance (tickets available at the Križanke Box Office)

Photos