Respighi’s world premiere
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Fri 30 Oct 202620:15 - 22:15Interval 21:00Grote Zaal
Program
Ottorino Respighi / Giovanni Sollima Cello Concerto No. 1 (world premiere)
Ottorino Respighi Suite nr. 3 from Antiche Danze ed Arie
Anna Clyne Sound and Fury
William Walton Cello Concerto
Credits
Giovanni Sollima cello
Laura van der Heijden cello
Antwerp Symphony Orchestra
Stephanie Childress conductor
Ottorino Respighi composed his first cello concerto in 1902, but only orchestrated the second movement, his famous Adagio con variazioni. Through Respighi’s descendants, Giovanni Sollima received the sketches of the other movements and took it upon himself to finish the orchestration. Now, 124 years after Respighi started writing his Cello Concerto, the piece is ready for its world premiere.
William Walton’s Cello Concerto, commissioned by the Ukrainian cellist Gregor Piatigorsky, did have its premiere straight upon completion. However, the first performances didn’t come about without issues. Piatigorsky suffered a nervous breakdown and Walton himself missed the British premiere due to a severe traffic accident. Nowadays, the work is a beloved classic and a part of Laura van der Heijden’s standard repertoire. She won the BBC Young Musician of the Year Competition in 2012 performing the concerto, as well as releasing it on CD in 2024 with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra – an album which received overwhelming praise.
This concert will be recorded to be broadcast later by NTR on NPO Klassiek
