This Friday, September 30th at 8 p.m. and Saturday, October 1st at 4 p.m., the Nice Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted on this occasion by Yannis Pouspourikas, will kick off its season with a concert featuring two composers who are polar opposites, both in terms of their music and character: the exuberance of Felix Mendelssohn versus the imposing solemnity of Gustav Mahler.
In his violin concerto, Mendelssohn forgoes the traditional orchestral exposition by having the piece begin with the soloist. This role will be performed by the Taiwanese-born Australian violinist Ray Chen.
At 27 years old, this first prize winner at the 2008 Yehudi Menuhin International Competition, has already built a solid international reputation, particularly through his unconventional performances. Last year, for instance, he played before eight hundred thousand television viewers during what was known as “Bastille Day” at the Champ de Mars in Paris with the Orchestre National de France conducted by Daniele Gatti.
In the second part of the program, the Nice Philharmonic Orchestra will perform Mahler’s grand Symphony No. 5 in C-sharp minor, particularly famous for its fourth movement “Adagietto,” which is often played independently and was used by director Luchino Visconti in his film Death in Venice.
