Macao Orchestra and Korean Chamber Orchestra (South Korea)
19/10 (Saturday);8pm
Macao Cultural Centre Grand Auditorium
Tickets: MOP 200, 150, 120, 80
Conductor: Lü Jia
Aga Mikolaj, Soprano
Programme:
R. Strauss:
Vier letzte Lieder (Four Last Songs)
Ein Heldenleben (A Hero's Life), Tone Poem for Orchestra, op. 40
The cycle Vier letzte Lieder (Four Last Songs) is Richard Strauss' very last and most important work, consisting of the songs “Frühling” (Spring), “September”, “Beim Schlafengehen” (Going to Sleep) and “Im Abendrot” (At Sunset). It was first performed after the Second World War, one year before the composer's passing. The work expresses an ambience of equanimity and quietude, as if singing in solitude to the advent of the Death.
Ein Heldenleben (A Hero's Life), a tone poem for orchestra composed during the peak of Strauss' career, is the last milestone and masterpiece of the post-Romantic style. It depicts the composer's heroic life, in which he successfully climbed to the ridge of art, bravely repelled all kinds of rebuke and enjoyed a low-profile retirement in the end.
Soprano Aga Mikolaj is a student of the late Dame Elisabeth Schwarzkopf. She has worked with many of the world’s leading conductors, among them Gustavo Dudamel, Zubin Mehta and Adam Fischer. Equally at ease in all major lyric soprano roles, and in Richard Strauss in particular, Mikolaj is frequently praised for her silvery vocal quality and seamless legato line.
This first collaboration between the Macao Orchestra and the Korean Chamber Orchestra is sure to be a harmonious one, bringing audiences stirring renditions of Strauss' signature work, as well as his final composition!
“[Aga Mikolaj is] a stunning soprano soloist.”
– International Record Review
Duration: approximately 1 hour and 30 minutes, including one interval
