Iceland Symphony Orchestra

PROGRAM

Arnold Schoenberg Notturno for Strings and Harp Alban Berg
CONDUCTOR

Bertrand de Billy
SOLOIST

Rainer Honeck

Alban Berg's Violin Concerto from 1935 bears a famous dedication — it is "dedicated to the memory of an angel." The angel in question was Manon Gropius, the daughter of Berg's friends, Alma Mahler and Walter Gropius, who tragically died of polio at just 18 years of age. The work is a kind of requiem in concert form, but also became the composer's final completed work before his own untimely death. Although Berg composed the work using the twelve-tone technique, it stands firmly in the musical traditions of earlier centuries, incorporating both major and minor triads and containing references to old folk melodies and Bach chorales. It is both forward-looking and captivatingly beautiful.

Austrian violinist Rainer Honeck is now performing in Eldborg for the second time; in 2017, he led the Vienna - Berlin Chamber Orchestra as concertmaster and performed as a soloist. Critics were barely able to contain their delight with this performance, making it very exciting to have him join forces with the Iceland Symphony Orchestra.

Symphonie Fantastique, by Hector Berlioz, is one of the main works of the Romantic period and is both thrilling and fantastical. The subtitle of the work is "Episode in the Life of an Artist," and the composer‘s depictions of his own life tell a story of passionate, unrequited love and wild, delusional dreams. When Symphonie Fantastique was premiered, it was accompanied by a detailed discussion of the work's storyline in the concert program, a novelty at the time. Berlioz had an absolute faith in the power of music to tell a story.

The concert will be conducted by French conductor Bertrand de Billy, former principal guest conductor of the Iceland Symphony Orchestra.