Yefim Bronfman plays Schumann

The writer Jean Giono was convinced that “the world is an optimistic creation”, citing as proof the fact that “all birds sing in a major key!" In keeping with springtime, this concert will put some chirruping birds on stage, starting with a composition from our guest conductor's native Finland. Einojuhani Rautavaara, who died in 2016, was a creative free spirit. He wrote his popular "Cantus Arcticus" in 1972 – a neo-romantic, mystical piece that uses tape recordings of bird calls. Our programme also features a masterpiece by Stravinsky, whom Cocteau described in poetic terms: "From a musical point of view, we were all in the midst of impressionism. There, suddenly, in the midst of the magical ruins, a tree grew – Stravinsky." In this fairy-tale score, the glittering firebird flutters through an enchanted garden. Schumann, too, was inspired by feathered beings: according to his wife Clara, he “firmly believed that angels were hovering around him, making the most glorious revelations to him." Yefim Bronfman will dive into the romantic wonderland of Schumann's Piano Concerto, first performed in 1845, which contains an allusion to the aria "In des Lebens Frühlingstagen" (“In the spring of life”) from Beethoven's "Fidelio”. The celebrated South Korean composer Donghoon Shin once said that in his creative workshop he could "hear all the sounds of the universe", and accordingly his work is shaped by a huge range of different influences. His brand-new orchestral piece is inspired by the political poem "Nineteen Hundred and Nineteen" by the Irish Literature Nobel Prize laureate William Butler Yeats – and challenges the notion of an “optimistic creation”, reflecting our current troubled times.