The play Romeo and Juliet has inspired numerous composers from the Romantic era onwards. Also many other masterpieces by Shakespeare have been transformed into magnificent and touching music and the Lahti Symphony Orchestra presents many of these pieces under its Shakespeare theme during the concert year 2007/2008. King Lear, Macbeth, Midsummer Night’s Dream, Hamlet, Othello, Julius Ceasar, Henry V, The Tempest and Romeo and Juliet will be heard from the point of view of different composers. This way the Lahti Symphony Orchestra wants to offer its listeners a possibility to experience each play and get an overall view of how texts by a master author live in different composers’ hands.
Top musicians of the concert year include the Chief Conductor of the orchestra, Osmo Vänskä and visiting conductors Jukka-Pekka Saraste (Artistic Advisor of the orchestra from autumn 2008 onwards), Okko Kamu, Carlos Kalmar and Yan-Pascal Tortelier. Soloists include pianists Boris Berezovsky, Ronald Brautigam and Peter Jablonski, clarinettist Martin Fröst and violinists Baiba Skride, Ilya Gringolts and Miriam Fried.
Entertainment concerts include music by e.g. Queen and John Williams
The Lahti Symphony offers also versatile experiences for friends of entertainment music. Because of the great demand from the audience, there will repeats of the Queen concert together with the vocal ensemble Rajaton, conducted by Jaakko Kuusisto in August, and Georg Ots concert in February with Gabriel Suovanen as soloist. In September there’s a concert conducted by Hannu Bister with operetta and musical programme, in November the stage will occupied by Indiana Jones and other film music classics by John Williams and in April there’s a Fred Astaire concert.
Regular concert visits to Hämeenlinna begin
The Lahti Symphony Orchestra will give regularly concerts at the new Verkatehdas concert hall in Hämeenlinna from autumn 2007 onwards. The programme for autumn season 2007 of Verkatehdas will be published on 24 April 2007.
World première performances
During the concert year 2007/2008 there are two Finnish one Icelandic world première performances in the Lahti Symphony’s programme, Symphony No. 3 by Atso Almila (22 February), Organ Concerto by Harri Ahmas (17 April) and ORA by Askell Masson (7 May). First time in Finland will be heard Clarinet Concerto by Kalevi Aho (11 October) and Et resurrexit by Igor Rogaliov.
Pickings from the symphony concerts in autumn 2007
As previously stated, on 11 October will be heard the Finnish première of the Clarinet Concerto by Kalevi Aho, conducted by Chief Conductor Osmo Vänskä and Martin Fröst as soloist. The world première performance of the work was in London and e.g. Financial Times described it as a masterpiece. The organ, which will be completed at Sibelius Hall in spring 2007, is also present in the Lahti Symphony’s programme and on 8 November will be heard the Organ Symphony by Saint-Saëns with Kalevi Kiviniemi as soloist. The last symphony concert of the autumn season consist of Brahms’s Symphonies Nos 2 and 3 conducted by Jukka-Pekka Saraste.
Pickings from the symphony concerts in spring 2008
Symphonic spring season 2008 will be opened with Hector Berlioz’s massive choir symphony Romeo and Juliet with conductor Carlos Kalmar and first class soloist (e.g. Lilli Paasikivi). On 6 March there is an interesting concert conducted by Jaakko Kuusisto with Armas Järnefelt’s orchestral music, which has been more or less forgotten during the last decades. Osmo Vänskä’s 20-year-long period as Lahti Symphony’s Chief Conductor will end in spring 2008 and in his farewell concerts on 7 and 8 May will be heard the Symphony No. 9 by Bruckner and as a première Askell Masson’s ORA for percussion soloists and orchestra, with Kroumata as soloist. On 24-26 April the orchestra arranges the Spring Festival which programme consists this year of Beethoven’s music.
The full concert programme 2007/2008 can be seen on the website under the title 'Concerts'.
Subscriptions are on sale on 7.5.-7.9.2007 (Tel. +358-(0)3-814 4460/59).
Single tickets sales begin on 11.6.2007.
