Philzuid

Music has an unparalleled ability to uplift and inspire people. Philzuid overwhelms with Stravinsky’s Firebird and Elgar’s Cello Concerto. With his sublime Firebird suite, Igor Stravinsky puts every listener into a trance. The turbulent heartbeat of this music leaves no one untouched. In 1910, the Firebird ballet composition marked the big breakthrough for the young daredevil Stravinsky. Full of bravado, he immediately completed a masterpiece for the legendary impresario Sergei Diaghilev of the Ballets Russes dance company. The flaming feathers of the mythical Firebird still capture the imagination. The fairy-tale myth behind the composition is not really that important. The Firebird is the secret weapon in the battle against the cruel magician Kashchei. But that same Firebird also symbolizes victory, resurrection, and a radical new beginning. In the compelling score, Stravinsky expresses awakening and ignition with a range of magnificent melodies, culminating in a thunderous finale that is guaranteed to send shivers down the listener’s spine.

Edward Elgar’s renowned Cello Concerto evokes the same feverish sensation. Soul-stirringly beautiful cellomusic that is the holy grail for every solo cellist. Completed in 1919, the cello concerto would be the last large-scale orchestral work that Elgar ever completed. For Elgar, it was the perfect way to process the horrors of the First World War and transform them into healing sounds. Sixty years ago, Elgar’s soulful concerto gained worldwide fame when British cellist Jacqueline du Pré took the work to a new dimension. From that moment on, this renowned cello concerto has become the Olympus for every true cellist. In four movements, Elgar covers the entire emotional palette. Now Philzuid has enlisted Belgian-Israeli cellist Liav Kerbel to color Elgar’s dream score with freshness and imagination. Kerbel has previously shared the stage with stars such as Mischa Maisky and Maxim Vengerov. Philzuid gives free rein to the young Finnish conducting talent Emilia Hoving. To complete the program, Hoving and Philzuid surprise with radiant 20th-century soundscapes for orchestra by the British composer Ralph Vaughan Williams and the Czech composer Vítezslava Kaprálová, who died young.

Program

Vaughan Williams – Fantasia on a theme by Thomas Tallis
Elgar – Cello Concerto, Opus 85
Kapralova – Suita Rustica
Stravinsky – Firebird Suite, 1919 version