Glières Harp Concerto and Tchaikovsky

The harp has for millennia been associated with bard song and angels - and with a sound that is at once melodic, harmonic, and rhythmic. The evening's soloist is Anneleen Lenaerts, principal harpist of the Vienna Philharmonic, performing what is considered the crown jewel of harp concertos: Glière's Harp Concerto from 1938.

Glière composed the concerto in the midst of the Soviet era, when the state demanded nationalist and accessible music, and it was immediately received as a popular solo work - here the harp appears both as a poetic narrator and a full-blooded virtuoso.

The second part of the evening belongs to Tchaikovsky's 5th Symphony from 1888, composed during a period of personal and emotional crises. It revolves around fate and drama, but ends in a great, radiant victory.

On the podium stands Georgian conductor Mirian Khukhunaishvili, of whom Berliner Morgenpost has written: "Khukhunaishvili had precisely the right blend of precision, emphasis and highlighting at hand."

Programme: L.v. Beethoven: Coriolan - R. Glière: Harp Concerto - P.I. Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 5