The Moldovan National Youth Orchestra was founded in the summer of 2011 by the Music and Choral Association of the Republic of Moldova, following an initiative of the young conductor Andriano Marian. Many of the approximately 200 instrumentalists with an average age of 22 study at music academies in Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, Russia and other European countries. During the past five years, the orchestra has already given more than 50 concerts; its broad repertoire ranges from the Russians Tchaikovsky and Prokofiev to the Hungarians Bartók and Kodály to Brahms and Mendelssohn, Ravel and Fauré. In pursuit of its goal of introducing a broad audience to classical music, the Moldovan National Youth Orchestra puts special focus on performing outside of concert halls, for example in streets and public squares. The Orchestra’s chief conductor is Gabriel Bebeselea.
Konzerthaus, Berlin
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Boris Aljinovic shares a fate with many a gifted stage and theatre actors: the son of a German mother and a Croatian father became really well known mainly thanks to television. For 14 years he played Berlin’s inspector Felix Stark on the popular Tatort series, side by side with Dominic Raacke (aka Till Ritter). He gave that role up three years ago – and unlike some others, Aljinovic hung up his handcuffs like a gentleman, without lamenting the fact in the yellow press. After many years of Tatort and many movies, for example with Otto Waalkes, the versatile actor, who can be as silly and playful as he is mindful and profound, is known to almost everyone in Germany. Calm and mindful describes the person Boris Aljinovic well – and gifted with a subtle sense of humour. No wonder: Aljinovic originally wanted to draw comic strips for a living. At the moment, the 50-year-old has taken up stage acting again, produces successful audio books – and prefers to fight wind and waves, often all alone on his sailboat for months, instead of imaginary crooks.
The young Romanian conductor Gabriel Bebeselea graduated from the Music Academy in Cluj-Napoca with a bachelor’s degree in conducting in 2010, followed by a master’s degree from the Bucharest Music University in 2012. At the same time, he received a scholarship to work as a conducting assistant at the renowned Concertgebouw Orchestra in Amsterdam. In 2015 he won the Lovro-von-Matacic Conducting Competition in Zagreb; in 2016 he reached the semi-finals of the Gustav Mahler Conducting Competition in Bamberg. Bebeselea enjoyed a great success in the summer of 2016 with Rossini’s Il viaggio a Reims at the Rossini Festival in Pesaro. In December 2017 he will record a CD of works by the Romanian composer George Enescu with the Radio Symphony Orchestra Berlin. At the moment, the 29-year-old holds the position of chief conductor of the National Opera House of Romania and the Transylvanian Philharmonic Orchestra in Cluj-Napoca. He is also the artistic director of the Moldovan National Youth Orchestra.
© Dragosh Cojcaru
At barely 30 years of age, the soprano Valentina Naforniţa was catapulted into the international limelight when she won the prestigious vocal competition “BBC Singer of the World” in Cardiff, Wales, in 2011. Ever since, she has been an ensemble member of the Vienna State Opera, where she has sung important Mozart roles such as Susanna and Pamina, but also Norina in a new production of Donizetti’s Don Pasquale, alongside Juan Diego Florez. The Peruvian tenor was also her partner in Massenet’s Werther in Paris, along with Joyce DiDonato. Valentina Naforniţa has appeared at the Berlin State Opera as Oscar in Verdi’s Un ballo in maschera; at La Scala Milan she performed the role of Gilda in Rigoletto under Gustavo Dudamel’s baton. The Moldovan soprano lives in Vienna with her husband, the baritone Mihail Dogatari. She has founded a charitable organization, CCF, helping children being brought up in institutions to re-join their families.
Rhapsody on Moldovan Themes Op. 47/1 (1949)
Concert Aria “Ah, lo previdi! - Ah, t’invola - Deh, non varcar“ K. 272 (1777)
Concert Aria “Bella mia fiamma, addio“ in C-Major K. 528 (1787)
“Pastorale - Fantaisie” (1916, German Premiere)
“Pictures at an Exhibition” (1874/1922 instr. Maurice Ravel)
7 pm: Pre-Concert Talk with Anne Kussmaul at the Werner-Otto-Saal
Free admission for ticket holders at 6:45 pm
PROGRAMME
A small country in Eastern Europe introduces itself with its National Youth Orchestra at Young Euro Classic. The young musicians come from the Republic of Moldova, yet many of them study in Germany and Austria, in the Netherlands or Scandinavia. No wonder they are presenting a highly ambitious programme which also incorporates the rich musical tradition of their neighbouring countries. After all, George Enescu, Romania’s most important composer, will be performed alongside his Polish colleague Mieczyslaw Weinberg with his Rhapsody on Moldovan Themes. Not to mention the fascinating Pictures at an Exhibition by the Russian Modest Mussorgsky, whose finale pays homage to the “Great Gate” of the Ukrainian capital Kiev. However, the Republic of Moldova has produced great musicians of its own: at the festival concert, the young soprano Valentina Nafornița, an ensemble member at the Vienna State Opera, sings two great concert arias by Mozart.
Broadcast
The concert will be recorded by Deutschlandfunk Kultur and broadcasted nationwide – via FM, DAB +, Kabel, online and app. The date of the broadcast is August 29, 2017, 20:03-22:00.
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The concert will be streamed LIVE and ON DEMAND on ARTE CONCERT: concert.arte.tv/young-euro-classic