Saint-Saëns/Say/Tschaikowski

The phoenix: that bird from Greek mythology that dies in fire before rising again out of its own ashes. In «Anka kuşu», composer and pianist Fazıl Say tells the Persian version of this legend – in the form of a virtuosic piano concerto for four hands that is inspired by Eastern sounds and that he wrote for the famously dextrous brothers Lucas and Arthur Jussen. In it, a thousand birds set off on an extended search for their king, but only thirty of them reach their destination and realise that they themselves are the king. Jun Märkl complements this work with another dramatic story involving noble birds: a suite from Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s magnificent ballet «Swan Lake» in which the enchanted Odette can only be redeemed from her existence as a swan by the undying love of the prince. The link between the two is provided at the beginning by Tchaikovsky’s friend and colleague Camille Saint-Saëns with his march «Orient et Occident»: a bridge in sound between East and West.

PROGRAMME

*Camille Saint-Saëns: «Orient et Occident» March for Orchestra op. 25
*Fazıl Say: «Anka kuşu | Phoenix» Concerto for Piano Four-Hands and Orchestra op. 97
*Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: Suite from the Ballet «Swan Lake» op. 20

CREDITS

Lucas & Arthur Jussen piano, Jun Märkl conductor, Tonkünstler-Orchester Niederösterreich orchestra