NSOI: Ravel, Dessner and Beethoven

National Symphony Orchestra Ireland
André de Ridder, conductor 
Anastasia Kobekina, cello

Ravel Pavane pour une infante défunte (Pavane for a Dead Princess)
Bryce Dessner Trembling Earth (World Premiere - Co-commissioned by National Symphony Orchestra Ireland, Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Konzerthaus Berlin and Borletti-Buitoni Trust)
Beethoven Symphony No. 3, ‘Eroica’ 

A Beethoven symphony on an awesome scale, an enchanting Ravel fantasy for a lost age of refinement and the world premiere of Trembling Earth for cello and orchestra by The National guitarist and leading composer, and recent National Concert Hall Artist-in-Residence, Bryce Dessner. 

Written for the ‘unrivalled’ (Le Figaro) Anastasia Kobekina, Dessner describes the concerto as ‘a reflection on the natural world and the way the mountains, rivers, oceans and forests on our earth bear witness to human calamity and destruction and yet, for now, somehow, they endure and Spring and renewal comes. The title comes from a series of landscape paintings of old oak forests by Edvard Munch which feel both timeless and political. The work is inspired by my musical friendship with Anastasia whose exceptional musicality and virtuosity has imbued every note of this piece’.

Longtime Dessner collaborator and friend André de Ridder, ‘one of the world's most daring conductors’ (Wall Street Journal) conducts.

Evoking the slow, processional quality of the pavane, a dance popular in Europe’s royal courts during the 16th and 17th centuries, Ravel’s watercolour-delicate Pavane pour une infante défunte (Pavane for a Dead Princess) is a fantasy for a lost age of refinement and poise with the most fragile and beautiful of melodies. 
From its thunderous opening to its lightning-like finale, Beethoven’s Third Symphony, the Eroica, combines awesome scale with grandiose gestures, compelling drama and bewitching poetry.

Presented by NCH