Residentie Orkest - Chopin & Saint-Saëns
Piano music by two French Romantic masters, with the finesse and flair one would expect from Parisians like Chopin and Saint-Saëns.
Programme
- One Minute Symphony
- Chopin Pianoconcert nr. 1
- Pärt Orient & Occident
- Saint-Saëns Symfonie nr. 2
The Residentie Orkest is travelling south, to sunny regions of France, where new talents meet great masters. Enjoy dynamic and moving piano play, masterful romanticism and exciting interaction with the orchestra. Camille Saint-Saëns and the Polish-French Frédéric Chopin (both Parisians and musical admirers of each other’s work) lifted the Romantic genre to new heights and were influenced by the playfulness of Impressionist art.
Tonight marks the first encounter between one of the Netherlands’ most talented young pianists and Richard Egarr, the Residentie Orkest’s principal guest conductor. Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 1 was a clear demonstration of his genius, with magnificent themes, rich chords and delicate ornamentation – something that The Hague-born pianist Nikola Meeuwsen, with his exquisite touch, seems born for.
As one of the most exciting Dutch piano talents, he won the prestigious Concertgebouw Young Talent Award in 2019 and the Grachtenfestival Prize in 2022. Also on the programme tonight is the exuberant (and far too rarely performed) Symphony No. 2 by Camille Saint-Saëns, in which the composer emphasised lively melodies, rousing rhythms and a bright orchestral palette. Finally, enjoy the interwoven Eastern and Western tonalities of the pure Orient & Occident by grandmaster Arvo Pärt.