Ukrainian music

Music from the Novgorod Steppes

Conductor: Kirill Karabits
Cello: Victor Julien - Laferriere

Program
Igor Stravinsky: Four Norwegian Moods
Theodore Akimenko: Cello Concerto | Norwegian Premiere
Igor Stravinsky: Pulcinella Suite
Ivan Karabits: Concerto for Orchestra No. 2

About the concert
The Ukrainian conductor Kirill Karabits is known for his innovative concert programs and for presenting music from both his homeland and the nearest neighboring countries. He comes to us with some great surprises in his music folder, including a Norwegian premiere of an over 100-year-old cello concerto.

To make us Norwegians a little proud, the concert opens with Stravinsky's "Four Norwegian Moods", a work he rewrote from the film score for a film about the German invasion of Norway, into an orchestral suite.

Akimenko's cello concerto from 1922 did not have its world premiere until 2022 after several of his forgotten and unperformed works were found in the French National Library. The young French cello virtuoso, Victor Julien-Laferrière, was then a soloist with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Karabits, and they both repeat the feat here in Trondheim with this Norwegian premiere.

Stravinsky’s Pulcinella Suite is a retrospective of the Neapolitan commedia dell’arte, and although the music is surprisingly faithful to the original melodies and material, he has colored it with his unmistakable brush and added both small harmonic and rhythmic twists, in a playful and life-affirming orchestral work.

The evening’s final work, Concerto for Orchestra No. 2, is written by none other than the conductor’s father, Ivan Karabits. When Ukraine became independent after the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, he became central to the country’s musical life, as one of its leading composers. This concert is both virtuoso and multifaceted; here the musical lines are colored with the different instrument groups' unique timbres, and Karabits has also found room for both celesta, xylophone and harpsichord in this energetic work.

Classical prelude
Would you like to know more about tonight's program? Then we invite you to the Classical prelude prior to the concert. Here you will have the opportunity to learn more about the music that will be performed, the composers behind the works, and the historical contexts that have shaped them. Everyone is welcome to participate, whether you are an experienced listener or completely new to classical music.

Location: The foyer outside the Great Hall on the 3rd floor.
Time: 6:15 PM (duration 15-20 minutes).