NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra / Steven Isserlis / Paavo Järvi
Pärt / Schostakowitsch / Beethoven
Memories of great men
Ludwig van Beethoven and Paavo Järvi: a combination that stands in the music scene for energetic, exciting performances rich in nuance. The Beethoven cycle recorded by the member of the Estonian family of star conductors together with the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen has long since achieved reference status. Now Järvi – in the meantime a regular guest with the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra – brings the score of Beethoven’s »Eroica« to Hamburg with him. The symphony in the »heroic« key of E flat, which celebrates the »memory of a great man« according to the title page, marks a turning point in the history of the symphony: from the very first bar it forces the audience to sit up and listen, to take in the messages contained in the music.
The same applies to Shostakovich’s Cello Concerto No. 1 in the same key of E flat. And in this case, the »memory of a great man« takes concrete form: by repeatedly using the notes D-S-C-H, his own initials, in the score, Shostakovich seems to be celebrating his personal triumph over the repressive Soviet cultural bureaucracy in the period of thawing after Stalin’s death. The gripping solo part is taken by the full-blooded musician Steven Isserlis, who impressed the audience last season in the Schumann Cello Concerto, accompanied by the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra.
Performers
NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester
Steven Isserlis violoncello
conductor Paavo Järvi
Programme
Arvo Pärt
Silhouette – Hommage à Gustave Eiffel
Dmitri Schostakowitsch
Concerto for Violoncello and Orchestra No. 1 in E-flat major, Op. 107
– Interval –
Ludwig van Beethoven
Sinfonie Nr. 3 Es-Dur op. 55 »Eroica«