In the “LNSO Chamber Music” series, a springtime adventure awaits us in the kitchen – at the centre of the programme is a suite from Bohuslav Martinů’s French-elegant and naively cheerful ballet “The Kitchen Revue” (1927).
The story is simple and age-old – about love, jealousy, and reconciliation. Pot and Lid’s engagement is threatened by Whisk. Pot succumbs to Whisk’s flattery, while Dishcloth casts tender glances at Lid, which Broom cannot bear, challenging Lid to a duel. In the end it turns out that Pot still misses Lid’s naive attentiveness, but Lid has disappeared somewhere. When he suddenly reappears (it is never explained where he has been), peace and love return to the kitchen, and Broom and Dishcloth are also in loving harmony.
Alongside Martinů’s sparkling divertissement – Hungarian Béla Bartók’s invigorating “Romanian Dances” for violin and piano, Romanian George Enescu’s swiftly shifting in mood “Légende” for trumpet and piano, Hungarian Zoltán Kodály’s Sonatina for cello and piano, the distinctive Czech Erwin Schulhoff’s Duo for violin and cello, and finally – citizen-of-the-world Igor Stravinsky’s suite from the theatrical work “The Soldier’s Tale”, in which the Soldier sells his soul, symbolised by a violin, to the Devil in exchange for a book that foretells the future. Adventures follow with the Princess; the Soldier breaks his pact with the Devil, and just as happiness with his love is within reach, he is dragged off to hell.
The programme’s creators say: “Alongside the varied shades of Slavic temperament, all these composers are united by having been born at the end of the 19th century, and in the concert one can clearly hear just how differently their paths diverged.”
The circle of musicians here is a brilliant one: performing will be LNSO concertmaster Georgs Sarkisjans, LNSO cello section principal Ieva Upatniece, LNSO principal clarinet Mārtiņš Circenis, LNSO principal bassoon Jānis Semjonovs, LNSO principal trumpet Jānis Porietis and the pianist who is always in perfect harmony with LNSO musicians, Agnese Egliņa.
Mārtiņš Circenis – section principal
Jānis Semjonovs – bassoon
Jānis Porietis – section principal
Georgs Sarkisjans – LNSO concertmaster
Ieva Upatniece – section principal
Agnese Egliņa – piano