Egils UPATNIEKS – oboe
Conductor Jorma PANULA
Programme:
Richard STRAUSS Concerto for Oboe and Orchestra
Jean SIBELIUS Symphony no. 2
In a special concert at the Latvian Society House, Jorma Panula, the legendary Finnish maestro and teacher of countless world-famous conductors, will lead the Latvian National Symphony Orchestra to perform compositions by Richard Strauss, marking the anniversary of his birth, and the esteemed Finnish national composer Jean Sibelius.
The Oboe Concerto in D Major by Strauss is one of the final completed works by the prolific composer. It was crafted in 1945 at the suggestion of American oboist John de Lancie, who met Strauss in Garmisch following World War II. The musician rightly referred to the composer’s numerous and inimitable oboe solos in his symphonic opuses, and although Strauss initially rejected it, the idea of creating a concerto for oboe never left his mind. The piece serves as a return to the sunlit days of youth, full of unending melodies and lush, refreshing moods.
Maintaining tonal consistency, the concert continues with Sibelius’ seemingly most performed and recorded symphony and a symbol of the Finnish national independence movement — his Second in D Major. Author of seven complete symphonies (having burned the unfinished score of the Eighth), Sibelius employs distinctive musical language, evoking mysterious, foggy landscapes reflected in unusual, rippling textures and orchestral colours, remarkable interpretations of form and an original dramatic structure.
The concert is financially supported by the Latvian State Culture Capital Foundation.