Stéphane Denève | Christian Gerhaher
Programme
Performers
Information about the programme
Baritone Christian Gerhaher has been closely associated with the BRSO for many years. Admired by audiences for his powerful expression and moving voice, he will now sing of the heavenly lightness of love – and the pain of its loss – in Berlioz’s Les nuits d’été. A completely different scene from those mysterious and melancholy summer nights is conjured up in Summer Pastorale by the Franco-Swiss composer Arthur Honegger. This short work of 1920 captivates with tranquil impressions of nature and warm orchestral colours. To round off the programme, the French conductor Stéphane Denève will present a masterpiece from Stravinsky’s neo-classical period: Dumbarton Oaks, a concerto in E-flat major named after the residence of the patron who commissioned it (near Washington, DC). It’s an ingenious jeu d’esprit that plays with stylistic, formal and development patterns from music history, using a wealth of combinations and overlaps that go far beyond the simple joys of quotation.
Further concerts
