Encounter between two young masters

Finnish conductor Tarmo Peltokoski (*2000) and Hungarian pianist Mihály Berecz (*1997) find each other in a spectacular Finnish-Russian program: Mussorgsky, Tchaikovsky and Fagerlund.

Nature images by Sebastian Fagerlund
In 2016, the Matinee sounded Ignite by Finn Sebastian Fagerlund. A score with the impact of a herd of stampeding elephants. The resounding success resulted in an appointment as composer in residence of The Concertgebouw. In Amsterdam, Fagerlund completed an orchestral trilogy that begins with Drifts and concludes with Water Atlas. Ecstatic images of nature come through impressionistically.

Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto and Pictures of an Exhibition
Painting with notes - so could Mussorgsky. His piano work (!) Pictures of an Exhibition became famous in Ravel's masterful orchestration. The Russian translated the story, which seemed to unfold on some "folk" drawings and travel reports by Viktor Hartmann, into music. Thus he brings to life the market of Limoges: can you hear how the women there exchange the latest news?
With the angular dance rhythms in the finale of his most famous piano concerto, Tchaikovsky also did not immediately endear himself to the "neat" critics. Part two features one of the favorite songs of Moscow's celebrated soprano Désirée Artôt. Tchaikovsky admired the Belgian so much that he éven considered a marriage proposal.