The Saxophone has such a strong personality and identity; individualism, innovation, inner-expression, strength, pain, loneliness, tenderness, exuberance, confidence… are just some of the ideas it brings to mind.
Gabriel Prokofiev
On February 10, the Philharmonic Orchestra of Ulm, soloist Asya Fatejeva, and conductor Felix Bender will present the European premiere of Concerto for Saxophone and Orchestra by Gabriel Prokofiev.
Prokofiev structured his concerto in a classical way, interweaving different music genres like punk, hip-hop, and jazz together.
The soloist takes on a journey, navigating a series of events, challenges, and emotional states. The first movement is defined by a musical back-and-forth between the orchestra and the saxophone, followed by a more optimistic and lyrical second movement that ends in a virtuosic Cadenza.
The third movement slows down even more, leading the saxophone into “cold open planes of regret and remorse”, as described by the composer. Finally, the concert ends with a wake-up call, “The saxophone is thrust into a dystopian world, fighting against an inexorable mechanical orchestral engine, driving to an insistent five-beat time signature, which twice rises to a pounding (almost disco-punk) climax, with various adventures in-between.”
For more information, please see the website of Theater Ulm.
