Chopin / Sibelius, Manlio Benzi
The esteemed Italian conductor, Manlio Benzi, takes charge of a series of concerts at the Malibran Theatre in Venice for renditions of two works, one by Frédéric Chopin and the other by Jean Sibelius. For each concert, the programme opens with Chopin's Piano Concerto No. 2 in F minor op. 21 which was first played at the National Theatre in Warsaw, Poland on 17 March 1830. Giacomo Menegardi, who won the prestigious Premio Venezia prize in 2023, is the pianist who will take to the stage alongside the superb La Fenice Orchestra, for this piece. The concerts reach their finale with a performance of Sibelius' Symphony No. 5 in E flat major op. 82 which premiered on 8 December 1915 but went on to be revised by the great Finnish composer before it was eventually finalised in 1919.
Chopin's second piano concerto is a romantic piece of music. The Polish composer was said to have been infatuated with an opera singer named Konstancja Gladkowska when he wrote it. Interestingly, Chopin was a young man – not yet in his twenties – when he began writing the concerto, his first one despite being named as his second. This is because the second piano concerto was published afterwards despite being written before the so-called first concerto. In particular, the haunting nature of the second movement reveals something of the composer's frustrations with his ardour for the aforementioned soprano. The Hungarian composer, Franz Liszt, noted his enthusiasm for the second movement at the time, stating that it was full of tender pathos in some passages while being radiant in others.
Debuting on the occasion of the composer's fiftieth birthday, Sibelius' fifth symphony has an heroic style that lacks some of the more sombre and introverted reflections of other works by the Finnish maestro. There is a serene – almost stately – opening to the work which may reflect the serious times in which it was written, during the First World War. Sibelius develops his ideas through a gentle second movement before embarking on the majestic final one. The third movement is heroic in nature, reminiscent in some ways of Beethoven's famous Eroica symphony, making extensive use of a three-note motif that develops as the symphony moves towards its climax.
As well as his work with the Orchestra of Teatro La Fenice, Benzi has conducted numerous other high-quality ensembles including the Orchestre National de France and the Orchestra of Santa Cecilia in Rome, among others. Born in 2000, Menegardi has won several prizes for his piano playing including the Mozart International Piano Competition staged in Lugano. These concerts, featuring two fascinating pieces and top-class musicians, will delight attendees at one of Venice's premier music venues.