Nielsen Flute Concerto – Ting-Wei Chen

May 8th 2025 at 19:00

Richard Strauss – Till Eulenspiegel
Carl Nielsen – Flute Concerto
Tchaikovsky – Sleeping Beauty: Suite

Oslo Philharmonic
Ting-Wei Chen – flute
Nikolaj Szeps-Znaider – conductor

Nikolaj Szeps-Znaider conducts music based on legends and fairytales: Richard Strauss’ tone poem Till Eulenspiegel and Pyotr Tchaikovsky’s Sleeping Beauty Suite. Ting-Wei Chen is the soloist in Carl Nielsen’s Flute Concerto.

According to legend, the charming swindler and prankster Till Eulenspiegel lived in the 14th century and is the hero of almost a hundred folk tales. In the tone poem Till Eulenspiegel from 1896, Richard Strauss (1864-1949) cheerfully portrays him with horn and clarinet.

Till Eulenspiegel is one of Strauss’ most humorous works, as full of inventions and surprises as the main character. Till dresses up, flirts with the ladies and makes fun of the scholars before he is put on trial and sentenced to death. The ending is ambiguous – does he manage to escape?

In 1921, Carl Nielsen (1865-1931) was captivated by a concert with the Copenhagen Wind Quintet. He knew the musicians, and wrote a piece for the quiet in which each one is described with music. He wanted to write one solo concerto for each – he managed two and started with the flutist.

“Eventually, the orchestral movement also becomes fuller and more moving, but this does not last long, because the flute cannot deny its nature (…) the composer must therefore adapt to its gentle nature,” Nielsen wrote about the Flute Concerto from 1926, a gentle and cheerful work in which there is a storm in between.

“The music from this ballet will become one of my best works. The subject is so poetic, so well suited to music, that I was entirely engrossed in composing it, and wrote with an ardor and passion which always results,” wrote Pyotr Tchaikovsky (1841-1893) during the work with Sleeping Beauty.

With Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty, and The Nutcracker, Tchaikovsky set a completely new standard for the ballet genre and greatly raised the status of ballet music. Sleeping Beauty premiered in 1890. The Sleeping Beauty Suite, composed after his death, features five orchestral excerpts from the ballet.

Click on the button below to purchase ticket.

May 8th 2025 at 20:00- 22:00

Programme

The Magic Flute Overture
Clarinet Concerto
Die Entführung aus dem Serail Overture
Jupiter Symphony

RTÉ Concert Orchestra
Swann Van Rechem, conductor
Julian Bliss, clarinet

Join us for a special evening celebrating the genius of Mozart with the RTÉ Concert Orchestra. From the enchanting drama of The Magic Flute to the lyricism of Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto, immerse yourself in the timeless beauty of Mozart’s music.

The evening opens with the lively and mischievous Overture to The Magic Flute Overture, an energetic introduction to one of Mozart’s most beloved operas, followed by his Clarinet Concerto, a masterpiece of brightness and warmth, written in the final year of Mozart’s life, 1791. Clarinet virtuoso Julian Bliss joins the RTÉ CO for his debut performance with the orchestra.

The spirited Overture to Die Entführung showcases Mozart’s wit and energy, with vibrant notes of Turkish culture. We conclude with the majesty of the Jupiter Symphony, Mozart’s final and most triumphant symphony. Symphony No. 41, the Jupiter Symphony, embodies an exhilarating blend of grandeur, brilliance, and complexity, marking the pinnacle of Mozart’s writing.

Click on the button below to purchase ticket.

Christian Forshaw – Sanctuary

May 8th 2025 at 20:00

Forshaw – Nunc Dimittis
Monk (arr. Forshaw) – Abide with Me
Gibbons (arr. Forshaw – Drop, Drop Slow Tears
Anon. (arr. Forshaw) – Mortal Flesh
Forshaw – Unknown Love

The Choir of King’s College London
Christian Forshaw – saxophone
Rosanna Wicks – soprano
Richard Pinel – organ
Ryan Hepburn – percussion

A candlelit concert celebrating the 21st anniversary of Christian Forshaw’s groundbreaking album ‘Sanctuary’ – which topped the classical charts in the year of its release. Simple ecclesiastical melodies inspired by Christian’s childhood as a church chorister are cast in a new contemporary light and developed into atmospheric concert pieces.

King’s College London was recently awarded University of Sanctuary status. Its acclaimed choir featured on the album. They reunite with Christian for this unique blending of sacred music with saxophone, organ, voice and percussion.

Click on the button below to purchase ticket.