PĒTERIS VASKS Cello Concerto No. 1
WILLIAM WALTON / arr. CHRISTOPHER PALMER Hamlet: A Shakespeare Scenario

Jiří Bárta cello
Simon Callow narrator
Filharmonie Brno
conductor Rumon Gamba

Pēteris Vasks’s First Cello Concerto was commissioned by Sender Freies Berlin (Radio Free Berlin) and was dedicated to the famous Lithuanian cellist David Geringas, who premiered it with Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin under Arturo Tamayo’s baton on 26 November  1994 in the city.
Laurence Olivier, considered an authority on Shakespearian roles in theatre and film, brought to the film Hamlet (1948) his distinctive acting and directing skills; alongside Henry V (1944) and Richard III (1955), the film constitutes a trilogy of Shakespearian film adaptations on which Olivier collaborated with the British composer William Walton (1902–1983). Hamlet was the first non-American movie to win an Academy Award for Best Picture (Olivier also won the Best Actor Oscar). Walton’s forceful music was arranged by Christopher Palmer for concert performance.

Simon Callow
The narrative part, which includes two famous Hamlet monologues, will be performed by the famous English
actor Simon Callow, whom film fans will know from Miloš Forman’s Amadeus and Mike Newell’s Four Weddings and a Funeral.

The concert is supported by

When on sale?

You can buy the concert on its own or as part of the “TAILOR-MADE SEASON” or as a part of the SUBSCRIPTION  till the 1st concert of the subscription Filharmonie in the Theatre I / MAGNIFICANT.

Listen to:

Jiří Bárta plays 1st Cello Concerto by Pēteris Vasks
William Walton: Hamlet: A Shakespeare Scenario