Karina Canellakis (c) Marco Borggreve

Opening concert: The Bells of Rachmaninov

Programme

  • Calliope Tsoupaki Aurora (world premiere)
  • Jean Sibelius En saga
  • Jean Sibelius Luonnotar
  • Sergei Rachmaninov The bells

With the Groot Omroepkoor, the Radio Philharmonic Orchestra and vocal soloists, chief conductor Karina Canellakis ushers in the new season of the AVROTROS Friday Concert with Rachmaninov's The Bells. Also on the program is a new work by Calliope Tsoupaki.

Karina Canellakis conducts Rachmaninov's The Bell s.
With the Groot Omroepkoor, the Radio Philharmonic Orchestra and chief conductor Karina Canellakis on the baton, the AVROTROS Friday Concert opens the new season like clockwork. Literally, because the program features Rachmaninov's choral symphony The Bells. As his text, Rachmaninov took Edgar Alan Poe's famous poem The Bells. It is a beautiful line from twinkling bells, to wedding bells and alarm bells, ending with the bells of death. As in so many of his works, and entirely applicable here, Rachmaninov uses the familiar dies irae motif from the Gregorian Mass of the Dead in the finale.

Sibelius and Tsoupaki
The concert also has much to offer before intermission. With Sibelius, we explore Northern European mythology. In Luonnotar, with a highly virtuosic soprano solo sung by Ukrainian soprano Olga Kulchynska, he uses a text from the traditional Finnish heroic epic Kalevala. In En Saga, one of his first major orchestral works, Sibelius explores the atmosphere of the Icelandic Edda.
This season's theme, "Wanderlust," prompted Calliope Tsoupaki to write a new composition for this concert: "The desire to travel, to leave for a distant unknown place, is the basis of the desire to make music.

Date:
Friday, September 15, 2023
Time:
8:15 pm
Intermission:
Yes
Location:
TivoliVredenburg

Utrecht
-
Large Hall

Performers

Radio Philharmonic Orchestra
Go to the website
Karina Canellakis, chief conductor RFO
Karina Canellakis
Conductor
View profile
Netherlands Radio Choir
Choir
Go to the website
Benjamin Goodson - Photo: Paolo Ferla
Benjamin Goodson
Choir conductor
View profile
Olga Kulchynska
Soprano
View profile
Sergey Skorokhodov
Tenor
View profile
Mikhail Petrenko
Bass

Coming soon

Friday 9 June 2023
AVROTROS Friday Concert

Schumann's Das Paradies und die Peri

Benjamin-Goodson
Sunday 2 July 2023
Other series

Friends Lottery Summer Concert - Mozart's radiant Krönungsmesse

Giampaolo Bisanti
Saturday, September 9, 2023
NTR Saturday Matinee

Bellini's breakthrough: Il pirata

Karina Canellakis (c) Marco Borggreve
Sunday, September 17, 2023
The Sunday Morning Concert

Karina Canellakis conducts The Bells of Rachmaninov

Sunwook Kim
Saturday, September 23, 2023
NTR Saturday Matinee

The ecstatic rhythms of Chin and Stravinsky

Friday, Sept. 29, 2023
AVROTROS Friday Concert

Netopil and Špaček in a Czech program

Johan Dalene
Saturday, October 7, 2023
NTR Saturday Matinee

Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto with Johan Dalene

Chloe Rooke (c) Allard Willemse
Thursday, Oct. 12, 2023
Other series

Pieces of Tomorrow - Beethoven, John Williams & Mendelssohn

Chloe Rooke (c) Allard Willemse
Friday, October 13, 2023
AVROTROS Friday Concert

Classic Top 400

Chloe Rooke (c) Allard Willemse
Sunday, October 15, 2023
The Sunday Morning Concert

Chloe Rooke conducts Beethoven's Symphony No. 7

Follow us on social media