sinfoniekonzert05

At the fifth symphony concert, two artists make their debut with the Gürzenich Orchestra who – both born in 1983 – have long since made the transition from child prodigy to serious artist. Violinist Alina Pogostkina was the winner of the legendary Sibelius Competition at the age of 22, and conductor David Afkham was the youngest participant in the Donatella Flick Conducting Competition, which he won at 25. Both now appear throughout the world with leading international ensembles. Afkham’s guiding principle is: “Conducting means, above all, allowing the music to develop. I want to make an orchestra listen to itself.” The chamber-like texture of Anton Webern’s student work, the Passacaglia op. 1, provides the perfect opportunity for that, despite its late Romantic expressiveness. In Béla Bartók’s Concerto for Orchestra, virtually every member and section of the ensemble is featured soloistically. Alina Pogostkina will appear in the traditional role of soloist in Karol Szymanowski’s Violin Concerto No. 2, a unique jewel of folkloric Expressionism. Her characteristic “commitment to the musicality of the work, a certain introspection . . . offers a pleasant contrast to some of the self-promotion on today’s virtuoso scene” (Rolf-Bernhard Essig).