Jugend-Sinfonieorchester Ahrensburg

»A more formidable and, in many respects, daringly original symphony has not been offered to an English audience for some time. Indeed, it is fair to say that the work contains no weak movement.« These are the words used by The Daily News in 1890 to describe Antonín Dvořák’s Eighth Symphony. The premiere in the same year was a great success, Dvořák was dubbed by contemporaries as the greatest living symphonist since Beethoven. And this despite the fact that his publisher Fritz Simrock initially seemed to have no interest in the symphony.

Charming melodies, joie de vivre and musical optimism characterise the work, which the Jugend-Sinfonieorchester Ahrensburg (Ahrensburg Youth Symphony Orchestra) will present in Laeiszhalle Grand Hall shortly before the orchestra’s departure for a two-week trip in the USA.

Alongside the symphony, Edward Elgar’s Cello Concerto in E minor, Op. 85, is on the programme. Composed during the First World War, the work has an incomparable mood of tragedy and leave-taking. Maike Grammerstorf, the young soloist from the orchestra’s own ranks, plays the demanding solo part with impressive virtuosity.

Opening the evening is French composer Louise Farrenc’s Overture No. 1 in E minor, Op. 23, composed in 1834. Like many others of her time, Farrenc had a hard time making her way as a musician and composer alongside the strongly dominant male composers. This makes it all the more important for the Jugend-Sinfonieorchester Ahrensburg to give this valuable composer more attention and her overture a wider audience.