“(Un) Beethoven” sounds in Ventspils – new season opens in concert hall “Latvija” / Article / LSM.lv

With the performance of German pianist Sebastian Knauer and the chamber orchestra “Sinfonietta Rīga”, the new season was opened on September 19 by Ventspils Concert Hall “Latvija”. In the concert “This is (not) Beethoven”, the world premiere of variations on the themes of Ludwig van Beethoven’s music by contemporary composer Aras Safaian.

Ventspils Concert Hall “Latvija” starts the second concert season with a serious application – the world premiere. “This is (not) Beethoven” – read on posters and in the concert program. However, there is a connection with the Viennese classic, who is celebrating the 250th anniversary of the world this year. Beethoven’s music inspired Iranian-born composer Aras Safaian, and together with Hamburg-born pianist Sebastian Knauer he created a music recording of the same name. And in Ventspils it was heard in front of the public for the first time.

“This music has not been recreated, it is a variation on Beethoven’s music themes.

Of course, it sounds different because he is a 21st century composer, and I would say that his manuscript is special. He likes music that sounds harmonious, not a constructive piece that would be very contemporary, ”says pianist Sebastian Knauer.

By the way, for Knauer, who always calls Beethoven his favorite composer, this was his debut on the Latvian stage. However, some time ago he played the “White Landscape” by Peter Vasks in a concert for our President in Germany. At that time it was the first meeting with Latvian music.

The concert in Ventspils was “dictated by chance”, reveals Normunds Šnē, the artistic director of the Sinfonietta Rīga chamber orchestra.

“It was a great success that we found in our schedule a few days when we could come to Ventspils and be with unusual music and an unusual soloist. Before that, I had no idea what to expect from it all, but even after the first moments of rehearsals, it was clear that something really interesting was coming, ”says Šnē.

The audience of the concert also confirms what Maestro said. “Long ago there was no concert where you sit and sometimes you cry about how beautiful the music is,” notes the concert listener Antra Leimane.

In turn, musicologist Inese Lūsiņa points out: “She is a very good pianist, I really liked the way he played Beethoven’s original” Moonlight Sonata “. If I have to say it openly about myself, but I’m not the real addressee of this concert, then Safaiana’s composition quickly exhausted itself, and that’s the way Bethoven Claiderman manners a bit. ”

Music critic Armands Znotins says of what he has heard: “It was a very vivid cycle of variations, which showed the lyrical and to a large extent also the dramatic depths that Beethoven’s music has.

There was nothing so avant-garde, but the language of the music was very, very emotional and appealing. ”

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