Tschaikowski/Pärt/Sæverud

Tabita Berglund returns to the Tonkünstler-Orchester Niederösterreich with a particularly gripping programme, presenting three works that capture the unspeakable in music.

The Norwegian conductor first appeared as a stand-in conductor with the Tonkünstler-Orchester in 2022 and has long since become a welcome guest. With Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's Sixth, his Pathétique, she now presents a symphony characterised by exorbitant emotional eruptions. For the first time, a work by Harald Sæverud, considered one of the most important figures in Norwegian music in the 20th century, is included in the Tonkünstler programme. The title Kjempeviseslåtten, which is difficult to translate, literally means ‘battle song dance’, or ‘ballad of rebellion’ in English. The piece is a musical outcry against the German occupation during the Second World War and is dedicated to the “small and great resistance fighters”. Arvo Pärt's Tabula Rasa follows as a kind of composed silence: the transcendental silence and the introverted, barren beauty also demand enormous, albeit completely different, concentration from the musicians.

Natalia Sagmeister is a violinist, leader of the second violins in the Tonkünstler-Orchester and co-founder of the Klassik Krumbach classical music festival. Violinist Vahid Khadem-Missagh, concertmaster of the Tonkünstler-Orchester, is the founder of the Capriccio Wien ensemble and artistic director of the Allegro Vivo Festival. Tabita Berglund is one of the most exciting young conductors in Europe and Principal Guest Conductor of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. In the 2024/2025 season, she made her debut with the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra and the Minnesota Orchestra, among others.

PROGRAMME

*Harald Saeverud: «Kjempeviseslåtten» | «The Ballad of Revolt» op. 22a no. 5
*Arvo Pärt: Tabula Rasa for 2 violins, string orchestra and prepared piano
*Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 6 in B minor op. 74
Pathétique

ORCHESTRA

Natalia Sagmeister, Vahid Khadem-Missagh violin, Tabita Berglund conductor, Tonkünstler-Orchester Niederösterreich