In his composition ...quasi una fantasia… Kurtág disperses the orchestra’s musicians into a sparse formation around the stage, far from each other. “I wanted for musicians to not be able to discuss how bad the music was during rehearsals,” Kurtág says with a twinkle in the corner of his eye. The title of the piece refers to Beethoven, a composer very important to Kúrtag.
The evening’s piano soloist Kirill Gerstein finds a lot of humour in the music of Beethoven, despite his reputation for being grumpy: “In people’s minds, Beethoven shakes his fist at the sky, which is true, but there are also a lot of tricks and jokes.”
Yes, but only before or after the concert. During the concert we just want you to enjoy the music. This way you won’t disturb the musicians or other audience members.
Only the orchestra has a dress code. You can dress as you like.
You can give the ticket to a friend or donate it to a music student by calling 09-3102 2700 or sending an e-mail to helsinki.philharmonic@hel.fi by 3pm on the day of the concert.
