Vänskä and Batiashvili
Thu Oct 21 - Fri Oct 22, 2021
Orchestra Hall
What happens when the roles are swapped, and wild animals attend their hunter’s funeral? Find out in the first-ever Minnesota Orchestra performance of music by composer Donghoon Shin. Georgian-born German violinist Lisa Batiashvili brings Karol Szymanowki’s brilliant Violin Concerto to life and the Minnesota Orchestra revisits the Fourth Symphony by Carl Nielsen, a work that captures the essence of the human spirit.
A Few Things to Know
- The Hunter’s Funeral was inspired by an 1890 woodcut of animals carrying the coffin of a hunter, crafted by Moritz von Schwind.
- Lisa Batiashvili’s newest recording, City Lights, takes audiences around the world on an autobiographical tour to 11 cities, with musical inspiration ranging from Johann Sebastian Bach to Charlie Chaplin.
- When Vänskä joined the Minnesota Orchestra, he led the ensemble through a series of performances featuring works by Danish composer Carl Nielsen, including the Fourth Symphony. This will be the symphony’s first performance at Orchestra Hall since those concerts 17 years ago.
Program
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SHIN
The Hunter's Funeral
1 min noteOne Minute Note
This contemporary work by Donghoon Shin was inspired by an 1890 woodcut of animals carrying the coffin of a hunter. The music gradually changes color from bright to dark, with the dance-like opening full of energy before the emergence of a slower funeral march in which, by the end, melodies become obsolete amid undulating, vanishing strings.
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SZYMANOWSKI
Violin Concerto No. 1
1 min noteOne Minute Note
The First Violin Concerto of Karol Szymanowski is a work of passion and lyricism. Its single movement opens with brilliant flashes of sound, then continues with hints of humor and extended passages of joyful, carefree song.
- INTERMISSION
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NIELSEN
Symphony No. 4, The Inextinguishable
1 min noteOne Minute Note
Carl Nielsen’s Fourth Symphony captures the essence of the human spirit and its capacity for endurance and resilience in a single movement that moves through plaintive melodies, turbulent storms and brilliant light.
Artists
Minnesota Orchestra
Osmo Vänskä
conductor
Lisa Batiashvili
violin
The Grammy Award-winning Minnesota Orchestra, led by Danish conductor Thomas Søndergård—who is serving as music director designate during the 2022-23 season—is recognized for distinguished performances around the world, award-winning recordings and broadcasts, educational engagement programs, and commitment to building the orchestral repertoire of the future. Founded in 1903, the Orchestra has an extensive history of touring throughout Minnesota, nationally and abroad, including high-profile visits in recent years to Cuba, Europe and South Africa. Recording projects undertaken in the past two decades include complete cycles of symphonies by Beethoven, Sibelius and Mahler, all recorded under Osmo Vänskä, who is now the Orchestra’s conductor laureate.
Minnesota Orchestra Conductor Laureate Osmo Vänskä, whose 19-year tenure as the Orchestra’s music director concluded in summer 2022, is renowned internationally for his compelling interpretations of the standard, contemporary and Nordic repertoires. His multi-year project with the Orchestra to perform and record all ten Mahler symphonies concluded in November 2022 with the Third Symphony. Signature initiatives of his music director tenure included a Sibelius symphonies cycle that earned the Orchestra its first Grammy Award and major tours to Cuba, Europe and South Africa. As a guest conductor, he has received extraordinary praise for his work with many of the world’s leading orchestras.
Lisa Batiashvili, the Georgian-born German violinist, is praised by audiences and fellow musicians for her virtuosity. An award winning artist, she has developed long-standing relationships with the world’s leading orchestras, conductors and musicians.
Batiashvili is the Artistic Director of Audi Sommerkonzerte, Ingolstadt. For the 2020 festival, she originally designed a programme to celebrate the festival’s 30th anniversary year, as well as Beethoven year 2020 under the motto ‘Lights of Europe’. Due to the global pandemic, an adjusted version with streamed concerts under the motto ‘Together for Music’ featured Lisa and other leading musicians, sending out a strong message of solidarity and adaptability.
Lisa Batiashvili regularly appears on stage with orchestras including the Berliner Philharmoniker, London Symphony Orchestra, Wiener Philharmoniker, New York Philharmonic, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Staatskapelle Dresden, Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa and Boston Symphony Orchestra, among others.
Your Concert Experience
Join us for Q&A’s, hosted discussions, exhibits and more. All free with your concert ticket!
Artist & Printmaker Emily Gray Koehler
When: Thu Oct 21 | 10:00am - 10:45am
Where: Target Atrium
This concert features music inspired by woodcuts. Minneapolis-based artist and printmaker Emily Gray Koehler will demonstrate and discuss aspects of her artistic process for creating woodcuts and prints.
Concert Preview
with Michael Adams
When: Thu Oct 21 | 10:15am - 10:35am
Where: Auditorium
Join former Minnesota Orchestra violist Michael Adams for a discussion of the music on today's program.
Artist & Printmaker Emily Gray Koehler
When: Fri Oct 22 | 7:00pm - 7:45pm
Where: Target Atrium
This concert features music inspired by woodcuts. Minneapolis-based artist and printmaker Emily Gray Koehler will demonstrate and discuss aspects of her artistic process for creating woodcuts and prints.
Concert Preview
with Michael Adams
When: Fri Oct 22 | 7:05pm - 7:25pm
Where: Auditorium
Join former Minnesota Orchestra violist Michael Adams for a discussion of the music on today's program.
Accessibility Services
- Assistive Listening Devices
- Large Print Programs
- Service Animals
- Wheelchair & Accessible Seating
Additional services are available upon request.
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