The opening of the Contrasts International Contemporary Music Festival, which will be held for the 27th time in Lviv, will combine music by Ukrainian and foreign authors. Cellist Jonas Kreienbühl, pianist Andrea Wiesli and the Lviv Philharmonic Academic Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Volodymyr Syvokhip will perform premieres by composers such as Jan Klusak, Hans Schaeuble, Hermann Goetz, Léon Boëllmann and Bohdana Frolyak.

The usual multinational diversity of the authors in this evening will be presented by contrasting the Czech Republic, Germany, Switzerland, France, and, of course, Ukraine. Traditionally, the festival turns to the most modern music: Invention XI by Jan Klusak was written in 2020. The author, who was one of the first in the occupied Czech Republic to turn to forbidden techniques of the Second Viennese School, continued his iconic cycle, created during the 1961–1973 years, after half a century.

The mentioned privilege of the opening is also promised by the work of one of the most important representatives of the Swiss school, Hans Schaeuble. His Cello Concerto is one of the mysterious works preserved in the Central Library of Zurich, a recalling of the post-war period. The well-known soloist, Jonas Kreienbühl, chose the short but eloquent “Variations” of the Frenchman Léon Boëllmann as a contrast to that composition. In addition, the archive of the same library contains a concert by another undeservedly forgotten artist, Hermann Goetz. His original work will come back to life in the performance of the famous pianist Andrea Wiesli.

A special dedication to the patron of the Lviv Philharmonic, the classical figure of Ukrainian music Myroslav Skoryk, who sadly passed away in 2020, would be expected next. The concert will be ended with “in memoriam”, created by the famous Ukrainian author Bohdana Frolyak. Thus, the theme of “Contrasts” and their motto this year is “past-moderne / post-moderne”, so, above all, it refers to the simultaneous desire to establish the connection between the present and the past, the history memory — and its incessant creation.

Artists:

• Jonas Kreienbühl, violoncello (SH)
• Andrea Wiesli, piano (SH)
• Lviv National Philharmonic Orchestra of Ukraine
• Volodymyr Syvokhip, conductor (UA)

Program:

• Jan Klusák (*1934, CZ). Invention XI, Variationen über ein Thema von Karel Janecek (2020, world premiere)
• Hans Schaeuble (1906–1988, SH). Konzert für Violoncello und Orchester, op. 41 (1959, world premiere)
• Hermann Goetz (1840–1876, DE/SH). Konzert für Klavier und Orchester Nr. 1, Es-Dur, op. 15 (1861, Ukrainian premiere)
• Léon Boëllmann (1862–1897, FR). Variations pour violoncelle et orchestre op. 23 (1893, Ukrainian premiere)
• Bohdana Frolyak (*1968, UA). Adagio in memory of Myroslav Skoryk (2021, world premiere)

The Music Department of the Zurich Central Library was founded in 1971 and quickly established itself as a scientific collection of European importance. In addition to larger holdings of printed music and sound recordings, the Music Department today has one of the largest Wagneriana collections in the world and has become an important repository of Swiss music manuscripts from the past 200 years. Its holdings include around 200 bequests of composers, musicians and musicologists such as Hans Georg Nägeli, Othmar Schoeck, Heinrich Sutermeister, Wladimir Vogel, Wilhelm Furtwängler and Paul Burkhard.

The Central Library makes fruitful use of the materials entrusted to it in a variety of ways. For example, a series of CDs with music from its holdings, ranging from Zwingli’s tenor songs to music of the late 20th century, is being published. Even at the lunchtime music in the Predigerchor, every programme contains at least one work that is in the Central Library as a manuscript, first or early print. These works, which are occasionally even premiered, are juxtaposed with famous pieces from the concert repertoire in order to place them in a larger historical context, and with the intention of thereby revealing correspondences and contrasts.