In the organizer's words:

Debut with the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra: the young Norwegian Tabita Berglund conducts works by Sibelius and Tveitt; pianist Alexander Melnikov performs the famous Tchaikovsky 1 - on March 27 in Lübeck.

Introductory event at 6.30 pm

Tabita Berglund Conductor
Alexander Melnikov Piano
NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra

GEIRR TVEITT
Velkomne med aera
from: Hundrad hardingtonar op. 151
PETER TCHAIKOVSKY
Piano Concerto No. 1 in B flat minor op. 23
JEAN SIBELIUS
Symphony No. 2 in D major op. 43

Debut with Sibelius 2

She is passionate about the works of her Scandinavian homeland: Norwegian conductor Tabita Berglund. 36 years young, she has already conducted many of the most important international orchestras - but the trained cellist has not yet been a guest of the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra. The newly appointed Principal Guest Conductor of the Dresden Philharmonic is now celebrating her debut with what is probably the greatest symphonic hit from Finland: Jean Sibelius' Second Symphony. "Like a river of small streams" - as the composer once said about his "organic" compositional technique - one theme after another grows out of a simple three-note motif in this piece, culminating in the broad melodic stream in the triumphant finale. Immediately after its premiere in 1902, the work became a model for many other Scandinavian composers - and to this day, no other symphony by Sibelius has been able to beat the popularity of this ingenious second symphony, which mediates between Romantic tradition and innovation.

Geirr Tveitt: Welcome

But Sibelius was and is of course not the only composer from the North! Tabita Berglund literally says "welcome" ("Velkomne med æra") in her debut concert with one of her Norwegian compatriots who is rather little known in this country: like Edvard Grieg in his day, the composer Geirr Tveitt, who died in 1981, was also interested in the folk songs around his home on the Hardangerfjord and arranged them atmospherically for orchestra in his "Hundrad hardingtonar" op. 151.

More than the first bars: Tchaikovsky 1 with Melnikov

In between, Alexander Melnikov, probably the brightest and most individual offspring of the famous Russian piano school, plays a real highlight of the concert literature for his instrument. Everyone should be able to sing along to at least the beginning of Peter Tchaikovsky's First Piano Concerto, which is also well-known from television commercials. But the effectively staged catchy melody is by no means everything! The young composer succeeded brilliantly in uniting the virtuoso piano style of Franz Liszt, for example, with an overwhelming symphonic orchestral language and influences of Russian folklore in his powerful first concerto.

Price information:

Discounts available (e.g. U30)