Gewandhausorchester, Andris Nelsons, Anne‐Sophie Mutter: Adès, Lutosławski, Sibelius at Gewandhaus

About the Event

Both violin solo works are dedicated to the same artist. Anne‐Sophie Mutter, whose declared mission is to champion new music, premiered the orchestral version of Witold Lutosławski's Partita and Air by Gewandhaus composer Thomas Adès. The introverted Air, which enchanted festival audiences in Lucerne in 2022, is juxtaposed with the bustling, playful Partita, whose obbligato piano part bears witness to its prehistory as a duo for string and keyboard instrument. Both pieces profess historical roots. The Partita makes no secret of Lutosławski's admiration for Bach, and Adès once again bows to his role model Sibelius, the mediator between past and future.
The latter's 2nd Symphony absorbed impressions of a trip to Europe. In Rapallo, Italy, Sibelius developed the plan for a festival — four tone poems and notated the first motifs that later entered the 2nd Symphony. In Florence, a sequence of notes was added that Sibelius associated with 'Christ' and cross‐integrated into the score. The reading of Dante's Divine Comedy is also said to have left traces in the developing work. The lengthy composition process wore on Sibelius's nerves. The mildest influenza made him doubt whether he would live long enough to complete the score. The enormous demands of the genre troubled him as much as personal concerns: after all, a symphony is no ordinary 'composition.' It is a profession of faith. The new great symphony, inspired by Italy and the Mediterranean, is dedicated to the generous Baron Axel Carpelan, who never had any money, but always knew where he could find funds for Sibelius: a symphony full of sunshine, blue skies and exuberant bliss.