Oulu Symphony Orchestra will open the concerts to the live audience again from the beginning of February. Friends of classical music can look forward to a busy month of concerts. The February schedule of Oulu Symphony Orchestra includes three symphonic concerts, and the Oulu Symphony Orchestra’s Chamber Musicians play two concerts of classic chamber music. However, Northern Infinity -concert from Thursday February 17th has postponed to the autumn season, and a new date for that concert will be informed later.
Thursday, 3 February, sees Chief Conductor Rumon Gamba conduct a slate of English music as befits the theme of the season. States of Minds -concert presents Four Sea Interludes from the opera Peter Grimes by the most prominent English composer of the 20th century, Benjamin Britten, as well as a work from contemporary composer Anna Clyne: This Midnight Hour, which premiered in 2015.
The concerto of the evening is Cello Concerto No. 1 by Dmitry Shostakovich from 1959. Featured soloist Torleif Thedéen from Sweden, one of his instrument’s globally most renowned virtuoso performers, presents one of his signature numbers. His recording of Shostakovich’s cello concertos together with the Malmö Symphony Orchestra was recognized with the prestigious Cannes Classical Award in 1995 and continues to be regarded as perhaps the best recording of that concerto. Opening the concert is En Saga, an early tone poem by Jean Sibelius.
The world famous orchestral conducting programme from The University of te Arts and Sibelius Academy will pay Oulu a visit. In the February 12th concert In The Whirls of Dance, a troupe of young talents (Erle Kont, Costas Vallios, Nathanaël Iselin, Kristian Sallinen, Mateusz Gwidalla, Aliisa Barrière, Aku Sorensen) led by Professor Sakari Oramo will each conduct one work, all connected by an overarching theme of dance. Some of the classics presented include the Emperor Waltz and Die Fledermaus Overture by Johann Strauss, the Rosenkavalier Suite by Richard Strauss, and La Valse by Maurice Ravel.
The repertoire of the Fireworks-concert on Thursday, February 24th, includes works nearing three hundred years in age, such as Antonio Vivaldi’s orchestral concerto and a smash hit of its own era, George Frederick Handel’s Music for the Royal Fireworks, which premiered in 1749 to such audience excitement that the ensuing traffic jam continues to be remembered in London more than 250 years later. Peter Whelan, the artistic director of the Irish Baroque Orchestra, will conduct. The concert venue has moved from Oulu Cathedral to Madetoja hall.
The traditional chamber concerts by Oulu Symphony Orchestra’s Chamber Musicians resume at the Oulu University of Applied Sciences (OAMK) Poiju Hall on Friday, February 18, at 6 pm and at the Kierikki Stone Age Center in Yli-Ii on February 19 starting at 3 pm. This month’s concerts focus on the wind instruments, featuring 19th century German romantic classics, including Fantasy Pieces by Robert Schumann, Reed Songs, Op. 28, and the Wind Quintet by August Klughardt, and the Sonata for Horn and Piano in F Major, Op. 17, by Ludwig van Beethoven. Free admission to the chamber concerts.
Sales of season cards for spring 2022 is re-opened for a short period. The season cards can be bought from Monday January 31st to Thursday February 3rd. The season card includes eight season concerts and as a bonus the Midnight Sun Variations & MOD -concert on March 2nd. Season cards can be bought from the Madetoja Hall ticket booth and Ticketmaster shops around the country. Read more on the Tickets-page.