Ludwig van Beethoven Piano concerto no. 3 in C minor op. 37
Fazil Say Silk Road
Periklis Koukos In Memoriam
Ludwig van Beethoven Symphony no. 7 in A major op. 92
Conductor Constantinos Carydis / Piano Fazil Say

Going East…

A regular presence in Western Europe since 1997, the MCO has started visiting the nations of Eastern and Southern Europe more frequently in the last few years, meeting with great success in Moscow, Budapest, Thessaloniki and Athens. Now the MCO will make its debut at the well-known Athens Festival. The programme and the participants promise a lively encounter between western and southeastern musical traditions: European classical music (represented by Ludwig van Beethoven) meets contemporary Turkish and Greek composers (Fazil Say and Periklis Koukous are two of the most important representatives of Turkish and Greek music on the programme). Greek conductor Constantinos Carydis will take the podium for the MCO’s concert, and the Turkish pianist Fazil Say will be the soloist.

Beethoven first began sketches for his third piano concerto in 1800, and the work was premiered in April 1803 in Vienna. Among Beethoven's five piano concertos, the third is the only one in a minor key; thus, it is often compared to Mozart's piano concertos K 466 and 491. Beethoven continued the innovations Mozart brought to the genre, establishing the orchestra as the piano's equal partner. Additionally, Beethoven's use of the different groups of instruments represents a departure from tradition: whereas an expansive orchestral sound dominates the first movement, the second features minimal winds and muted strings. One of his musical devices became a mainstay of 19th century piano concertos: at the end of the third and final movement, Beethoven reiterates the theme in a radiant D major, leading the concerto to a triumphant end.

Beethoven's Symphony No. 7 in A major was premiered on 8 December 1813 in the auditorium of the Vienna University, with the composer himself conducting. Contemporary listeners interpreted the work in many ways: some heard a depiction of a wine harvest festival, whereas others heard a musical rendition of one of the Mignon scenes from Goethe’s Wilhelm Meister’s Apprenticeship. Some listeners also heard a political context to the symphony, as 1813 marked the beginning of a change in the European political situation. The Battle of Leipzig had started the chain of events that led to Napoleon’s downfall, and his fate was sealed at the Battle of Waterloo half a year after the symphony’s premiere. Beethoven, the once-passionate Napoleon supporter, had already turned away from his idol and seemed to be celebrating a triumph over the despotic French emperor with this euphoric work. Musically, the symphony represents a continuation of the stylistic devices present in the sixth symphony, but with stronger subjective expressiveness, the vehemence which marked Beethoven’s “symphonic self” (complementary to the “lyrical self” in literature).

Fazil Say has his artistic home on both sides of the Bosphorus—he carries the traditions of European classical music into Turkey, and brings the music of his homeland to the rest of the world. His concerto for piano and chamber orchestra, “Silk Road,” takes the listeners on a journey along the Silk Road, the famed trade thoroughfare which connected China and Europe. The four movements, connected with a Chinese gong, function like stations on a caravan route: they tell of Tibetan philosophy, Indian dances, the conflicts between various religions in Mesopotamia, until the piece finally concludes in Say’s home Anatolia, the “Mother of the Earth.” Each movement quotes the musical traditions of the stations; Indian dances are woven into the sound, as is Arabian folklore and Anatolian songs.

Periklis Koukos is one of Greece’s most renowned contemporary composers, and as Artistic Director of the National Conservatory plays a doubly important role in his country’s cultural life. His oeuvre encompasses operas, theatre music, orchestral works and chamber music.

Since 1955, the annual Athens festival has offered an ambitious programme of visual and performing arts which connects Greek and Western European art traditions. The festival’s profile is determined by this idea of an encounter between different conceptions of art from all genres. The MCO concert will take place in Megaron, where the orchestra last performed in fall 2008. The multi-functional concert hall was opened in 1991 and is one of the best-known performance spaces for musicians from around the world. Alongside symphonic and chamber concerts, the hall hosts exhibitions, international conferences, and other cultural events.