Gala Opening Concert: Philharmonia Orchestra

Conductor – Esa-Pekka Salonen
Violin – Sergey Khachatryan

Howard Skempton – Opening Fanfare (world premiere)
Mussorgsky – Night on a Bare Mountain
Sibelius – Violin Concerto
Interval
Debussy – La Mer
Janacek – Sinfonietta

We are delighted to be reopening the Butterworth Hall with a visit from our old friends, the Philharmonia Orchestra, under their recently-appointed Principal Conductor and Artistic Advisor Esa-Pekka Salonen, regarded as one of the world’s most renowned conductors. He directs the Philharmonia in a programme of great range, colour and vibrancy.

The concert opens with a special fanfare commissioned for our opening concert, composed by Howard Skempton and performed by Students of the University of Warwick alongside the Philharmonia Orchestra.

This is followed by Mussorgsky’s dramatic Night on a Bare Mountain. The talented young violinist Sergey Khachatryan performs Sibelius’ ethereal Violin Concerto, which is followed after the interval by Debussy’s much-loved evocation of the sea, La Mer.

The evening is completed by a rare opportunity to hear Janacek’s epic Sinfonietta, which is scored for a colossal orchestra containing 24 brass musicians, including 10 trumpeters that make this work one of the most unique pieces in the entire orchestral repertoire.

“Salonen’s mix of absolutely clear beat and almost tremulous passion gave the Philharmonia all it needed to respond at its brilliant best.”
The Independent, Feb 2008

“The concert concluded with a broadside of blazing brass in Janacek’s Sinfonietta…whereas it’s the tidal wave of brass fanfares that brings the house down, it’sworth underlining that, in the other movements, the lean and alive Philharmonia sound was exactly appropriate to the staggering originality of Janacek’s mercurial genius.”
The Herald, on the Philharmonia’s performance at the Edinburgh Festival, Aug 09

“ANY cobwebs the Usher Hall may have been gathering over its years of closure were well and truly blown away last night by the explosive power of the Philharmonia Orchestra.

It was a programme designed to have impressionable impact, wrapped in an outer shell of blistering Bartok and Janacek … Under principal conductor, Esa-Pekka Salonen, it wasn’t long before they proved their worth. The opening urban cacophony that sets the sleazy scene of Bartok’s The Miraculous Mandarin (in this case the shorter suite) was unleashed like a wallop around the ears. Salonen demanded spit and grit and got it, teasing equally a fine set of wind solos to add softer characterisation to the hard-edged score.

Compare that to the liquid precision and poise of the Debussy, deliciously portrayed through Salonen’s mastery of timing and tonal balance.

But that was all a distant memory by the time the battery of extra brass made its entrance – rather uncomfortably among the choir stalls audience – for Janacek’s golden Sinfonietta. Once again, great music reaped rich rewards.”
The Scotsman on the Philharmonia’s performance at the Edinburgh Festival, 21 Aug 09

Pre-Concert Talk
Conference Room 6.45pm
Tickets £2, Subscribers £1
David Whelton, Managing Director, Philharmonia, in conversation with Alan Rivett, Director, Warwick Arts Centre.

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Interview with Esa-Pekka Salonen