Meditation – to the Victims of the Tsunami 11/3 will be heard in Besední Dům today and tomorrow

23 November 2017, 4:00
Meditation – to the Victims of the Tsunami 11/3 will be heard in Besední Dům today and tomorrow

The Czech premiere of the composition Meditation – to the Victims of the Tsunami 11/3 by Toshio Hosokawa will take place today and tomorrow in Besední Dům. The work is a reaction to the results of a natural catastrophe which struck the north-east coast of Japan in 2011. The Brno Philharmonic and Vilém Veverka will perform under the leadership of Alexander Liebreich.

The Meditation as a one-movement musical stream, Hosokawa has divided it into several passages, their programmatic character captured by names inscribed into the score: Rumbling Earth (blows on the bass drum corresponding to the cosmic pulse), Calligraphy (a melody evoking oriental calligraphy), Meditation, Elegy (a lament), Fears (brass and percussion in the background as the threat of the approaching disaster) and prayer. “I followed the television reports about mothers who lost their children in the catastrophe. The wave of the tsunami hit a primary school and swept away all the pupils in one of the classes. Their bodies are yet to be recovered from the sea. Even though several months have passed from the catastrophe, one mother still goes every day to look for her child,” says Hosokawa describing his motivation to create these works.

In Brno the composition will be conducted by Alexander Liebreich, who commissioned it from the author and conducted the world premiere. “A tsunami is actually a natural phenomenon and we as people have to be a little humble. We are sometimes overly arrogant, because we think: it is a natural catastrophe … But no. It is a normal natural phenomenon, which is a catastrophe for us, since we are dependent on nature. Toshio’s composition is not about grief, even if written in memory of the victims, but is really about homage to nature which is bigger than us – homage with a little fear. It is not lamentation or melancholy, but meditation, peace, it is naturally something Asian, Zen and Taoist,” said Liebreich in an interview for Czech Radio.

This quarter-hour-long composition is followed by the similar length Zimmermann Concerto for Oboe and Small Orchestra from 1952, which forms together with the concertos of Richard Strauss (1945) and Bohuslav Martinů (1955) a trio of the key works in the oboe concerto literature of the 20th century. Its highly virtuoso approach advanced the technical and expressive possibilities of the oboe, which after its boom in the eras of the Baroque and classicism and a certain stagnation in the Romantic period returned to it the dignified role of the solo instrument. In the Brno programme Vilém Veverka, one of the best Czech oboists will be performing, having already played it several times, among others twice with the Tokyo philharmonic. In 2004 he also gave the Czech premiere of the work.

In the second half of the evening will be heard the dramatic overture to the opera L'isola disabitata, which recounts the tale of two sisters – castaways, and an early symphony, sometimes called the Mourning, by Joseph Haydn.

Thursday’s concert will be broadcast by Czech Radio Vltava and taken up by the Euroradio radio network (EBU) as part of the Euroradio Premium Concerts. A novelty of the evening will be that listeners in the hall will be able to hear the commentary of the presenters from the speakers in the hall, which is unusual.

Alexander Liebreich/ Photo Jiří Jelínek

Comments

Reply

No comment added yet..

The last opera première of the National Theatre Brno this year was Hurvínek Sells the Bride, which was co-produced with the Spejbl and Hurvínek Theatre. The première continued the thematic focus associated with the Year of Czech Music and took place on 24 November in the large hall of the Reduta Theatre.  more

With Thursday's concert entitled Bruckneriana, the Brno Philharmonic under the direction of Principal Conductor Dennis Russell Davies launched the subscription series Philharmonia in the Theatre I. The orchestra performed works by Anton Bruckner and Stanislaw Skrowaczewski, a Polish-American conductor and composer who devoted his life's work to Bruckner. Performers wearing crimson sashes with the inscription "Playing forte!” appeared in front of the audience, joining the "Let's not let culture die” initiative, which draws attention to the underfunding of culture and opposes the government's plan to invest just 0.64% of the state budget into culture next year, moving further and further away from its promise to spend at least 1%.  more

The Brno Philharmonic Orchestra has been running the Orchestral Academy of the Brno Philharmonic (OAFB) project for nine seasons, enabling young talented musicians to gain orchestral experience in a professional ensemble. In this manner, the orchestra educates the next generation of musicians, both permanent and external. However, working here also gives young people the opportunity to show their skills in chamber music and in a concert series called Young Blood aka Music Up Close. The first seasonal concert took place on Wednesday 15 November at Besední dom.  more

Baladas da Luta, Fighting Ballads, is the title of the sixth album by Brazilian singer Mariana Da Cruz and her Swiss-Brazilian band Da Cruz. It is a combination of modern music that combines Latin American tradition and contemporary electronic elements with strong lyrics. In them, the author fights for women’s rights, stands up against dictatorships and specifically criticizes the atmosphere that has evolved in Brazil under the now former authoritarian President Bolsonaro. Da Cruz performed at Brasil Fest Brno in August 2023. We revisit this festival with an interview conducted following their concert at Zelný trh. Singer Mariana Da Cruz and keyboard player and producer Ane Hebeisn, performing as Ane H, responded to our questions.  more

The programme for Janáček Brno 2024, an international opera and music festival now in its 9th year, was unveiled at a concert held to mark this occasion entitled Janáček to the start! On Saturday, 4 November, the Mahen Theatre was filled not only with devoted fans of the festival, but also with foreign journalists, politicians and prominent figures from the world of culture. In addition to a collection of wonderful musical performances, the audience was also treated to a lineup of renowned artists – Kateřina Kněžíková (soprano), Václava Krejčí Housková (mezzo-soprano), Josef Špaček (violin) and, last but not least, Robert Kružík, who took on the role of both conductor leading the Orchestra of the Janáček Opera at the National Theatre Brno during the evening and also performing as a cellist.  more