Heart Strings

This year’s closing concert is inspired by an intricate emotional life between several great composers. The festival’s final concert plays on the most sensitive strings we have: the heartstrings.

Date
Time
–
Venue
Risør kirke
Buy tickets
Et opprevet papirhjerte holdes sammen av en tråd
Foto: Kelly Sikkema

About the concert

The music is drawn from composers who inspired one another in different ways. It is intricate, and Tine will give you an insight into just how intertwined this really is.

A whole week in Risør is nearing its end, and with more classical concerts than in a long time, we bring this year’s celebration to a close in one of the country’s most important concert venues for classical music.

But do not despair: The heart gets, what the heart wants. There is only one year left until we see each other again!

Additional Content

The Works in the Concert

This concert has an intermission before César Franck’s Piano Quintet.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Rondo in D major

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791): Rondo in D major, K. 382 (1782)

The Rondo in D major was written as a new finale to the original Piano Concerto in D major, K. 175, and Mozart wrote home to his father about the new ending: "making ... a furore in Vienna".

Performers:

  • Alexandra Dariescu, piano
  • Arabella Steinbacher, violin
  • Jan Söderblom, violin
  • Eivind Ringstad, viola
  • Amalie Thing Helseth, cello
Camille Saint-Saëns: 2 pieces for piano four hands

Camille Saint-Saëns (1835–1921): 2 pieces for piano four hands

  • Berceuse, op. 105 (1896)
  • Feuillet d’album, op. 81 (1887)

Performers:

  • Sveinung Bjelland, piano
  • Gunnar Flagstad, piano
Augusta Holmès: Selections from Vingt mélodies

Augusta Holmès (1847–1903): Selections from Vingt mélodies (1872–1902)

Augusta Holmès was a French composer of Irish descent who wrote music in a time when expectations of female composers were often narrower than those of men. Holmès was a pupil of Franck, and she wrote songs of great emotional force and drama, as well as larger, powerful orchestral works.

Performers:

  • Tine Thing Helseth, trumpet
  • Roderick Williams, baritone
  • Gunnar Flagstad, piano
César Franck: Piano Quintet in F minor

César Franck (1822–1890): Piano Quintet in F minor, Op. 14 (1879)

  • Molto moderato quasi lento
  • Lento, con molto sentimento
  • Allegro non troppo, ma con fuoco

Franck dedicated the work "To my good friend Camille Saint-Saëns" and completed it in 1879. Saint-Saëns played the piano part at the premiere on 17 January 1880. The work has been described as an explosion of stormy emotions, and today it is one of Franck’s major works.

Performers:

  • Isata Kanneh‑Mason, piano
  • Johan Dalene, violin
  • Alena Baeva, violin
  • Lilli Maijala, viola
  • Frida Fredrikke Waaler Wærvågen, cello

Composers

Komponist Wolfgang A. Mozart

Wolfgang A. Mozart

Wolfgang A. Mozart

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791) was an Austrian composer and child prodigy from Salzburg. Performing before royalty at age five, he died at 35. He composed over 800 works including 41 symphonies, operas (The Marriage of Figaro, Don Giovanni, The Magic Flute), concertos, and chamber music. Widely regarded as one of the greatest composers in history, he defined Viennese Classicism alongside Haydn and Beethoven.

César Franck

César Franck

César Franck

César Franck (1822–1890) was a Belgian-French composer and organist. Born in Liège, he became a French citizen in 1872. Organist at Sainte-Clotilde for 32 years and professor at Paris Conservatoire from 1872. Known for his Symphony in D Minor, Violin Sonata, and pioneering cyclic form. Considered the greatest organ composer since Bach, he founded the French symphonic organ tradition and taught Chausson, d'Indy, Duparc, and Vierne.

Artists