This is Santtu-Matias Rouvali conducting the Helsinki premiere last night of a violin concerto by Sebastian Fagerlund. Impossible to know for certain since we’ve never heard the piece before, but he seems to hold it together very tightly. The soloist is Pekka Kuusisto. Watch here.
Meantime, for those who have claimed on this site that the young man has advanced too far, too fast, we hear that he was offered the music directorship of a Dutch symphony orchestra two months ago – and told them he was not ready.
The world premiere of Fagerlund’s Violin Concerto was originally given 3 months earlier, on September 6, 2012 by Pekka Kuusisto, Hannu Lintu and Tampere Philharmonic Orchestra, who also commissioned the piece. More info here: http://www.tampere.fi/english/philharmonic/concerts/season2012_2013.html
It’s not the world premiere. The work was commissioned by the Tampere Philharmonic, which premiered it in September, with the same soloist, Pekka Kuusisto, and Hannu Lintu conducting. (I did mention this in my previous comment.)
Right, and I don’t believe this orchestra could have held things together without its conductor either.
Shockingly vacuous piece though….
OK, he got the gig. Let’s move on; but, as they say in Texas, he looked like he was ridden hard and put away wet when it was over (usually referring to horses). I hope we can see yearly updates on his progress.
What a lousy photo. Unbelievable that it’s available on his agent’s site (along with some very nice other ones). http://www.harrisonparrott.com/artist/profile/santtu-matias-rouvali
Joep, there is absolutely nothing wrong with that photograph. I’m not surprised at all to see that kind of stylization.
You should watch and listen the encore from that concert played by violinist Pekka Kuusisto. The piece is based on Finnish folk music and maybe Pekka should fix his bow after this… http://areena.yle.fi/tv/1761883