Hessischer Rundfunk

Myths fascinate people because they tower over them. This is why the music that Wagner created for "Tristan and Isolde" sounds so incredibly grand. No less so is the music with which Anna Thorvaldsdottir captures the idea of a "primal energy" in sound. These are sounds of singular tension and power. But there is one myth that needs to be dispelled: that symphonies have to be long to be significant.

Sibelius, the great symphonist of the North, proved with his "Seventh" that the ultimate can be said in barely 20 minutes. His last symphony is like an essence, pure and intense, straight to the point. Despite all the significance, exaggeration and depth, this program also offers Shostakovich's First Cello Concerto: a work full of masks, facades, ambiguities, whimsical and yet serious again. The contrasts could hardly be sharper between broad moderato and hectic allegretto, between light and dark, machine music and grace. In addition, you hear and see a soloist who is almost comic-like busy - Julian Steckel takes on this hyperactive part, a cellist who says of himself: "I can play Shostakovich at 3 in the morning."

On the podium of the hr-Sinfonieorchester is the Norwegian Tabita Berglund, also a trained cellist, who has been concentrating on conducting for several years - especially on music from Nordic regions, on these special works of art that transcend the ordinary.

Photo: hr / Nikolaj Lund

20.11., 7 p.m.

hr-Sendesaal, Bertramstr. 8, Frankfurt

50 % discount: price category 3 = 25 € for 2 tickets

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