National State Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine / Raphaela Gromes / Volodymyr Sirenko

• Classical Music

The celebrated young cellist Raphaela Gromes and the National State Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine had planned their joint concerts, which kicked off in Kyiv, in the hope that peace would come soon. Now the war is still raging, making the concerts, which feature two of Antonín Dvoák’s most beautiful works and an overture by Mozart’s Russian-Ukrainian contemporary Dimitrij Bortnjanski, all the more a mission of peace.

»I was deeply impressed by the solidarity of the Ukrainians, by their incredible courage and will to fight staunchly for freedom and democracy,« said Raphaela Gromes after her performance in Kyiv in December 2023. In Dvoák’s Cello Concerto she is accompanied by the National State Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine under the baton of long-standing chief conductor Volodymyr Sirenko, who have seen themselves as cultural ambassadors of their homeland since the orchestra was founded. With its vocal melodies and dramatic climaxes, it offers the soloist plenty of scope for virtuoso dexterity and unbridled passion.

The many famous melodies from the composer’s subsequent Ninth Symphony, »From the New World«, are sure to resonate long after the concert, carrying the hope for peace from the concert hall out into the world.

PERFORMERS

National State Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine orchestra

Raphaela Gromes violoncello

Volodymyr Sirenko conductor

PROGRAM

Dimitrij Bortnjanskij
Overture from »Il quinto Fabio«

Antonín Dvoák
Concerto for Violoncello and Orchestra in B minor, Op. 104

- Interval -

Antonín Dvoák
Symphony No. 9 in E minor, Op. 95 »From the New World«