WEST SIDE STORY, FRIDA KAHLO A MISHIMA

LEONARD BERNSTEIN Symphonic Dances from West Side Story
KURT SCHWERTSIK Muertes en Relajo Op. 126
PHILIP GLASS / arr. MICHAEL RIESMAN Mishima Concerto for piano and orchestra, Czech premiere (co-commission)

Maki Namekawa piano
Filharmonie Brno
conductor Dennis Russell Davies

The American chief conductor of Filharmonie Brno, Dennis Russell Davies will lead the performances of two works by famous US composers, Leonard Bernstein and Philip Glass, complemented by a piece by the Austrian Kurt Schwertsik inspired by the diaries of the celebrated Mexican painter Frida Kahlo. All three composers have been linked with Dennis Russell Davies by the bonds of art and friendship.

The Chief Conductor about “Lenny” Bernstein

“In 1989, I invited Lenny to Bonn as composer-in-residence at the Beethoven Festival, where I was music director. It was a powerful experience for both of us. At that time Lenny had the opportunity to hear – mostly under my baton – his music in a concentrated form, and he himself conducted the Vienna Philharmonic in three unforgettable Beethoven concertos there. We had known each other briefly as colleagues, but this festival triggered a mutual respect between us that soon grew into a friendship, sadly soon ended by Lenny’s untimely death.”

West Side Story
A great social drama in which knives and guns come into play, this is a critique of American society in which human lives lose all value in an atmosphere of tension and hatred; in such a bad world, love searches in vain for its place.

Jubilating Kurt Schwertsik

Kurt Schwertsik, who will turn 90 on 25 June 2025, has worked as an orchestral horn player while also developing his compositional activities. He is the author of an unprecedentedly long list of works, including collaborations with choreographer Johann Kresnik on four ballets, Macbeth, Frida Kahlo, Nietzsche and Love Talks, and has composed concertos for major soloists (trumpeter Håkan Hardenberger, violinist Christian Altenberger, percussionist Colin Currie, etc. ), and in 2009 he created the full-length ballet Kafka Amerika for the Linz Provincial Theatre together with the world-renowned choreographer Jochen Ulrich. Filharmonie Brno has already performed three works from Schwertsik’s works: the suite Mr. K. Discovers America, the Shrunken Symphony and Nachtmusiken.

Muertes en Relajo
The title of Schwertsik’s piece literally means Death in Relaxation. In Frida Kahlo’s diary, underneath these words is a picture of three dancing skeletons and a colourful bird flying above them – motifs that are often found in the Mexican painter’s work are treated here with detachment and even humour, an approach that is also inherent in Schwertsik’s music. The work was premiered on 26 March 2023 at the Leipzig Gewandhaus by the MDR Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Dennis Russell Davies.

The Chief Conductor about “Phil” Glass

“I met Phil in the late 1970s. He had performed Einstein on the Beach. My good friend Hans de Roo, the intendant at the Dutch Opera, told me that he liked Einstein very much and wanted Philip to write a new opera. (…) The result was Satyagraha, probably Philip’s most famous opera to this day. Philip then came to me, brought the score of Satyagraha and Hans de Roo suggested that I conduct it. But I couldn’t, because at the time the premiere was to take place in Holland, I was starting my first season at the Stuttgart Opera. (…) And then I found out that the programmer in Stuttgart was also a great admirer of Philip. When I told him about the opera, he decided that we would prepare our own production, directed by Achim Freyer. It became one of the most famous opera productions in Germany for many years, with people coming from all over the world to see it. The Stuttgart Opera then commissioned Philip to write Akhenaten, which we worked on together. I also conducted the premiere of the First Violin Concerto, which was commissioned by the American Composers Orchestra, and the performance of a number of other works. Gradually we became closer and closer friends. We’re both family-type people, with children about the same age, so we share experiences in that way as well. We spent a lot of time together pleasantly, and not just discussing music by far. Philip remains one of my closest friends.

Enjoy:

BERNSTEIN

SCHWERTSIK

GLASS