GRIEG PIANO CONCERTO
Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra , La Scala Philharmonic , San Francisco Symphony , Philadelphia Orchestra , NHK Symphony , Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra and Dresden Philharmonic .
Recent career highlights include his debut at the BBC Proms ; an extensive Asian tour including Seoul Arts Centre and PyeongChang Chamber Music Festival in South Korea ; Esplanade Concert Hall in Singapore ; and concerto appearances with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra , Taiwan National Symphony and Bergen Philharmonic . A favourite touring artist , Kempf ' s most recent tours include a play / direct tour across New Zealand with New Zealand Symphony Orchestra and an extensive 12-date tour with the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra across the U . K . The start of the 2018 – 19 season includes performances with the Northern Chamber Orchestra ( Beethoven Piano Concerto No . 3 ), the Royal Tunbridge Wells Symphony ( Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No . 1 ) and a play / direct performance with the Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra . Further on , he debuts with the Slovak Philharmonic interpreting Tchaikovsky ’ s Piano Concerto No . 1 , returns to RTV Slovenia Symphony Orchestra and tours the U . K . with the St . Petersburg Philharmonic . A committed recitalist , Kempf ’ s recitals this season include a return visit to Australia , Stoke-on-Trent Piano Masters Series and a recital debut in Istanbul .
A prolific recording artist , Kempf records exclusively for BIS Records . His latest discs include a Tchaikovsky CD released in 2015 , a Schumann recital disc released in 2013 and a recording of Prokofiev ’ s Piano Concertos Nos . 2 and 3 with the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra and Andrew Litton , which was nominated for the prestigious Gramophone Concerto Award , with the associated magazine describing the collaborative duo as “ a masterful Prokofievian pair .”
Born in London in 1977 , Kempf made his concerto debut with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at the age of eight and came to further national prominence in 1992 when he won the BBC Young
Musician of the Year Competition . In 1998 , his award of third , rather than first , prize in the Tchaikovsky International Piano Competition in Moscow provoked protests from the audience and an outcry in the Russian press , which proclaimed him “ the hero of the competition .”
Freddy Kempf makes his BSO debut .
About the Concert
FINLANDIA
Jean Sibelius
Born in Hämeenlinna , Finland , December 8 , 1865 ; died in Järvenpää , Finland , September 20 , 1957
The year 1899 opened ominously for Finland , at that time a dependency of the mighty Russian Empire . Under Czar Nicholas II , the Finns began feeling the weight of Russian rule as never before , and in February , the Russian government issued the so-called “ February Manifesto ,” removing Finland ’ s autonomy and severely curtailing the rights of free speech and assembly . An ardent patriot , Jean Sibelius was increasingly active in the fight for Finnish freedom , and his music became a rallying point for the movement , providing a cultural camouflage for underground political activity .
For the evening of November 4 th , the Finnish press association announced a “ Press Pension Celebration ”— a series of “ Historical Tableaux ,” with texts by Eino Leino and Jalmari Finne , and music by Sibelius — ostensibly to raise money for journalists ’ pensions , but more importantly to rally support for a free press . Sibelius composed introductory music for six historical scenes , the last of which was significantly titled “ Finland Awakes !” But not wishing to provoke the Russian censors , he changed the title to Finlandia , when he revised it a year later as a free-standing tone poem . Although he called it a “ relatively insignificant piece ,” it became his most popular work and its central melody an unofficial national anthem for the Finns .
The text that originally accompanied this music saluted Finnish progress during the 19 th century and included these words : “ The powers of darkness menacing Finland have not succeeded in their terrible threats . Finland awakes !” And the musical plan of this nine-minute work powerfully expresses this idea . Dark , savage chords for trombones and horns suggest a giant force trying to rouse itself . As the tempo accelerates , the music awakens to energetic , purposeful activity . This soon gives birth to a gravely beautiful hymn melody in the woodwinds : an anthem for a free Finland .
Instrumentation : Two flutes , two oboes , two clarinets , two bassoons , four horns , three trumpets , three trombones , tuba , timpani , percussion and strings .
PIANO CONCERTO IN A MINOR
Edvard Grieg
Born in Bergen , Norway , June 15 , 1843 ; died in Bergen , September 4 , 1907
When the adolescent Edvard Grieg showed exceptional musical promise , he was sent off at age 15 to Leipzig , Germany because Norway — not yet an independent country — had no conservatory to train him . Although he chafed at Leipzig ’ s rigid pedagogy — and at German music in general — Grieg did eventually find a sympathetic teacher in Ernst Wenzel , who had been a friend of Robert Schumann . Wenzel passed on his love of Schumann ’ s music to the young Norwegian , and when , in 1858 , Grieg heard a performance of Schumann ’ s Piano Concerto played by Clara Schumann , he was enthralled by the work . Ten years later , while composing his own Piano Concerto in the same key of A minor , he would draw on Schumann ’ s concerto for inspiration .
Although Grieg ’ s Piano Concerto followed the traditional form of the Romantic Germanic concerto , it was the subtle use of Norwegian folk influences that kept the work from being a clone of Schumann ’ s . The Concerto was the product of youth and happiness , composed during the idyllic summer of 1868 , which the 25-year-old composer , his young bride , Nina , and their infant daughter spent in rural Denmark . It was
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