Dvořák 8

Antonín Dvořák’s Symphony No. 8 is the musical embodiment of joy and tenderness. It is a masterpiece that manifests all the imaginative power of music, taking the audience on a journey that starts in the sunny Bohemian countryside and leads to an elegant ball, where dancers spin, violins sing and timpani thunder. The orchestra’s approach is one of flair and humour, as if performing a comedy about the joy of life.

The Residentie Orkest’s former artist-in-residence (2018-2019), star cellist Kian Soltani, invokes even greater flights of the imagination with Dmitri Kabalevsky's masterful Cello Concerto No. 2. This unique piece from the Soviet Union employs a neo-classicist style to create a tonal world that is entirely its own: Kabalevsky elevates the cello into a hero who stands up to all manner of challenges, alternately supported and contradicted by the orchestra. You can feel the adrenaline, the fighting spirit, the excitement of the adventure. Dvořák’s Othello overture meshes perfectly with this atmosphere. Its folk music influences are in good hands with returning conductor Valentina Peleggi, who is also bringing her personal drive and expressiveness to The Hague.