Death and Transfiguration

Nodoka Okisawa has triumphed in two of the world’s most prestigious conducting competitions – in Besançon and Tokyo. In Oulu, she makes her debut with a programme that journeys from the edge of darkness towards eternal light.

Tōru Takemitsu, one of the most significant Japanese composers of the 20th century, masterfully combined Western modernism with the traditions of Japanese music. His sorrowful Death and Resurrection features in Shōhei Imamura’s award-winning film Black Rain (1989), where a family that has survived the devastation of Hiroshima struggles with trauma and despair.

Antonín Dvořák’s Cello Concerto, composed during his years in the United States, resonates with homesickness and aching nostalgia. This greatest and most beloved of all cello concertos will be performed by Marko Ylönen, returning to Oulu Sinfonia as guest soloist.

The evening culminates in the youthful intensity of Richard Strauss’s tone poem Death and Transfiguration, where stormy orchestral waves evoke the human soul’s struggle against the inevitable – and its final release into transcendence.

Head start at Restaurant Preludi at 18.00. Discussion of the forthcoming concert.

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Duration about 1 h 50 min (incl. intermission)

Tickets 29 € normal / 24 € pensioner / 16 € student, unemployed, child (3–17 yrs)
Free entry to the concert for Kaikukortti holders (limited amount, must be purchased in advance from Oulu10 service point).

Prices include service fee. Order fee 3 €/order when bought from Ticketmaster shops or 1,50 €/order when bought from Ticketmaster online shop will be added, excluding tickets purchased at Oulu Sinfonia ticket booth and Kaikukortti tickets.