Baltic Sea Philharmonic, Robert Trevino, Lana Trotovšek

“Think of autumn and of Tchaikovsky” is the marking that opens the score of Cantus Arcticus, the meditative “concerto for birds and orchestra” composed by Einojuhani Rautavaara in 1972 during his neo-Romantic period, incorporating tape recordings of real birdsong. An entirely different expressive world is offered by Max Bruch’s Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor, a work whose rhapsodic passagework justifies its inclusion among the four great German violin concertos of the 19^th century. As the 74th Ljubljana Festival comes to a close, the programme turns northwards once again with Jean Sibelius’s Symphony No. 5, one of the composer’s key steps towards his ideal of an organically condensed form in which motifs and textures constantly transform, merge and expand into a majestic symphonic arc.

This musical journey is presented by the Baltic Sea Philharmonic, founded in 1997 by Kristjan Järvi. The orchestra brings together musicians from ten Nordic and Baltic countries and is one of the most prominent ensembles in the European Federation of National Youth Orchestras. The orchestra is led by the American conductor Robert Treviño, principal guest conductor of the Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della RAI and former music director of the Basque National Orchestra, who has conducted a wide variety of orchestras from Salzburg to Tokyo. The soloist is Lana Trotovšek, a Slovene violinist of international renown, a former pupil of Ruggiero Ricci who has won plaudits for her musicality, technical maturity and convincing interpretations that have made her a regular presence on the most prestigious concert platforms in Europe and around the world.