Orange Subscription Series 9

Orkester Slovenske filharmonije
dirigent George Pehlivanian
Dubravka Tomšič Srebotnjak klavir

A. Srebotnjak: Slovenica
F. Liszt: Piano Concerto in E-flat major, S. 124
B. Bartók: Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta
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In his composition Slovenica, Alojz Srebotnjak, who this year celebrates his 80th birthday, attempts (in his own words) "to place the folklore element in its original form as a quotation in a new sonic space with various colour combinations."
The composition of the First Piano Concerto belongs to the period of the great performance successes of Franz Liszt (1839), but the work only gained its final form in 1849. There followed one further revision (1853) before the composition received its premiere performance in 1855 under the baton of Hector Berlioz.
Bartók’s Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta was commissioned by the well known patron of music, Swiss conductor Paul Sacher, who gave the work its premiere performance with the Basel Chamber Orchestra on 21 January 1937. The principal characteristic of the composition is symmetry – both in terms of music and space, as the composer divided the strings into two independent groups, placing the percussion, harp and keyboard instrument (piano or celesta) between the two groups.