Performers:

– Maksym Shadko, piano

– INSO-Lviv Symphony Orchestra

– Nataliia Stets, conductor

Programme:

– Borys Liatoshynsky. Symphonic Ballad “Hrazhyna”, Op. 58

– Ivan Nebesnyi. “…On the Way to Heaven…” for piano and symphony orchestra (2024)

– Borys Liatoshynsky. Symphony No. 4, Op. 63

The Neman flows calmly and majestically. Somewhere in the darkness, the moonlight falls upon the ruins of a castle, while from afar comes a song about Hrazhyna. This is how Borys Liatoshynsky begins his musical tale of a choice that comes at a price.

In Liatoshynsky’s *Hrazhyna*, choice takes the form of an act of courage. The duchess rides into battle in her husband’s place, defending the land she believes has been betrayed. In Ivan Nebesnyi’s *…On the Way to Heaven…*, choice no longer assumes a heroic stance. What remains here is memory, love, and that which cannot be brought back. In Liatoshynsky’s Fourth Symphony, time turns back towards the composer himself. Memories emerge, alongside the carillons of Bruges, music from his distant past, and a sense of centuries fading into eternity.

Three works, written in different eras, converge on a single thought: we do not always choose what happens to us, but it is up to us to decide what to do with it next.