On September 30, Helena’s Song by Sebastian Fagerlund will be performed in Germany for the first time. Commissioned and premiered by Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra and John Storgårds, he is now bringing the piece to Berlin, as soloist and conductor of the Junge Deutsche Philharmonie.
Helena’s Song, for violin and orchestra, is based on an aria from the second Act in Fagerlund’s opera Höstsonaten. For Fagerlund this aria, where Helena speaks up about her experiences after being mute before, is the most important scene in this opera and he thought about making it the basis for a standalone orchestral work with solo violin for a long time.
Even though it is based on the aria, it is clearly a work of its own. Fagerlund says:
“At the beginning, the solo violin has a couple of phrases from Helena’s song in the opera, but it then goes off in new directions. It’s like a Stilleben – a still life; the main characters are absent but Helena’s emotions are present. Without words, it’s possible to enter even deeper into Helena’s mindscape.”
For more details on the concert see Junge Deutsche Philharmonie.
