Name: firebird
Start: 2024-03-09T20:00:00
Location: Alte Oper

Susanna Mälkki

hr-Sinfonieorchester

A 3,500-year-old Chinese mouth organ, three altarpieces from the early 16th century and a mythological firebird, more a magical-divine principle than a real figure: these spherical-archaic ingredients make up a concert program with superb sound appeal. Let's start with the Sheng, this incredibly multifaceted instrument from the Middle Kingdom. The composer Unsuk Chin had long avoided writing music for the Sheng, because folklore or exoticism were not her wavelength. But the art of the Sheng virtuoso Wu Wei changed her mind - and so in 2009 »Šu« for Sheng and orchestra was created, with a solo instrument that stands for the »longing for the distant sound«. The Sheng concert is framed here by powerful timbres of classical modernism, plastic sound images and historical associations, conceived by two masters of orchestral effectiveness who are unrivaled. The woman at the helm of the symphonic apparatus: the Finnish conductor Susanna Mälkki, who sees the almost limitless orchestral repertoire as "a huge treasure trove" - ​​these three works are particularly dazzling gems.