This concert opens with the first performance of Null, by Ukrainian composer Victoria Poleva, a powerful apocalyptic sound portrait in which the orchestra has a strong presence. ‘Null’  is an attempt to create music from within “standing at the point of being-not-being”, from the point of “Nothingness”, from that “lumen of being” where the creator cannot be supported in existence – that is, from the primary point of ontological horror and fundamental freedom. From within the “void full of the germs of new meanings”. Music that is extra-personal, timeless. Music that would encompass the entire space of the rumbling emptiness.

It is followed by Jean Sibelius’s Violin Concerto. Despite being a national hero in Finland, the composer sought international recognition by premiering this concert in Berlin. Unfortunately, this plan had to be postponed and the premiere, in Helsinki, was a failure, due to the work’s considerable difficulty and a delay in the delivery date. In the end, the work and its composer enjoyed success and fame far beyond the borders of his own country.

The concert closes with one of Edward Elgar’s best-known and most mysterious works, his Enigma Variations. Starting from an original theme that, according to the composer, is never heard, the work comprises a series of fourteen variations, each dedicated to a friend whom he did not initially identify.

Program

Victoria Poleva: Null (2006) 18′ National Premiere
Jean Sibelius: Violin Concerto in D minor, Op. 47 (1904; rev. 1905) 35′
Edward Elgar: Enigma Variations, Op. 36 (1898-1899) 31′