Contrasts 31. Closing. Transgression

Performers:

• Karim Said, piano (JO/UK)
• Lviv National Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra
• Theodore Kuchar, conductor (US/UA)

Program:

• Yevhen Stankovych (*1942, UA). Music for the ballet Prometheus (1985)
• Arnold Schoenberg (1874–1951, AT). Piano Concerto, Op. 42 (1942)
• Béla Bartók (1881–1945, HU). Concerto for Orchestra, Sz. 116, BB 123 (1943)

Moderator: Polina Kordovska

Neoclassical philosophy asserts that there are no real boundaries between the possible and the impossible: this crossing is called transgression – overcoming the most difficult border, the border of human perception. For 31 years, the “Contrasts” festival has been building its strength. It affirms that there are no limits between history and the present, since everything new has its foundation and may be interpreted as a simulacrum. A simulacrum of barriers between art and its audience, because accessibility to the discoveries of Ukrainian and world music is one of the festival’s top priorities. There are no borders between the works that are just being born and their premieres, the presentation of which is a special task for each of the musicians. The essential condition for “Contrasts” transgression is synergy, which permeates every event and every participant, becoming an impulse for the whole next year – leading to new achievements, the results of which will become part of the next edition.

On the final evening, the audience will hear: music from the only Ukrainian ballet that has three different titles – Yevhen Stankovych’s Prometheus, the twelve-tone challenge for the soloist – Arnold Schoenberg’s Piano Concerto, and one of Béla Bartók’s last completed works – the Concerto for Orchestra. Joining the Academic Symphony Orchestra, which will perform under the baton of Theodore Kuchar, will be pianist Karim Said, a member of the Royal Academy of Music in London.

Mariia Levkovych