Music Director Osmo Vanska and the Minnesota Orchestra prepare for their annual trip to New York with concerts April 30 and May 1 spotlighting Greek violinist Leonidas Kavakos. Vanska, renowned for his interpretations of Beethoven and Sibelius, conducts two Sibelius works—The Wood Nymph and the hauntingly beautiful Violin Concerto—and concludes with Beethoven’s dance-like Seventh Symphony.
Vanska, the Orchestra and Kavakos will present the same program at Carnegie Hall on May 4.
Leonidas Kavakos, violin
Leonidas Kavakos has established himself as one of today’s leading violinists, appearing regularly with prestigious orchestras throughout the world. He is also artistic director of the Austrian chamber orchestra Camerata Salzburg. For his last Minnesota Orchestra engagement, in 2004, he performed the Nielsen Violin Concerto.
This season he performs with more than 15 orchestras, including the Boston Symphony, New York Philharmonic, London Symphony and Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. In December 2008 he played recitals with pianist Peter Nagy at London’s Wigmore Hall and the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam.
Two sides of Sibelius and Beethoven’s dance-like Seventh Symphony
Sibelius’ tone poem The Wood Nymph portrays a man’s ephemeral romance with a wood nymph. A sturdy march brings us to a forest of sighing strings and slithering winds; a courtship dance leads to an emotional minor-key finale.
Sibelius’ “dearest wish” as a young man had been to become a great violin virtuoso, and his Violin Concerto more than proves his love for the instrument. Taking center stage, the violin speaks first dreamily, then with bravura. A gentler solo statement in the second movement receives a lovely orchestral response before the finale, with its inventive rhythms, builds to a brilliant close.
Beethoven’s lively Seventh Symphony, famously called “the apotheosis of dance” by Wagner, builds a series of astonishing musical moments from short, simple figures. The second movement, based on a repeating rhythm, has been an audience favorite since its premiere nearly two centuries ago. -- www.minnesotaorchestra.org
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