Tähe-Lee LIIV, piano / Estonia

Džeraldas BIDVA, violin/ Lithuania

Kremerata Baltica Chamber Orchestra   

Programme: Pēteris Plakidis, Dmitry Shostakovich, Fazil Say, Valentyn Silvestrov, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

The closing concert of the Kremerata Baltica 25^th anniversary season is centred around Chamber Symphony by the greatest musical genius of the 20^th century Dmitry Shostakovich; the piece is actually not a symphony but an arrangement of Shostakovich’s String Quartet No. 8 for chamber orchestra. It is considered that the original version came as a final statement of an unhappy decade in the composer’s personal life. Many think that the string quartet, later transformed into a chamber symphony, was a requiem Shostakovich wrote for himself.

Shostakovich’s piece will resonate with the Ukrainian composer Valentyn Silvestrov’s ‘Messenger’ and the Turkish pianist and composer Fazil Say’s ‘Silk Road’ piano concerto ‒ two works that will remind every listener of the tragic events in our neighbouring country and make us all aware of our responsibility, our stance in face of a force that brings destruction.

The special guest of the programme is a young Estonian talent, pianist Tähe-Lee Liiv. Winner of several international piano competitions, she currently performs with Estonian National Symphony Orchestra, the New York Kremerata, Tallinn Chamber Orchestra, Alion Baltic Festival Orchestra and others; she has also appeared at a number of festivals.

According to Gidon Kremer, it is not entertaining the audience that the orchestra considers its goal but rather asking each viewer and listener to look inside themselves and, expanding their consciousness, reflect on the fate of humanity and the role each one of use plays in everything that happens around us. Indifference is the most dangerous human disease. Even if art is unable to save the world, it can cleanse us.