B3 - Concertos for Marimbas

ABOUT

Join us for an unforgettable walk under a starry sky to the magical sound of marimbas! This evening spent in the Bethlehem Chapel promises an extraordinary experience. Venezuelan conductor Andrés Maurette O'Brien will open the Czech première of The Universe, a double concerto for two marimbas and string orchestra. Its author is the contemporary Belgian composer, teacher and brilliant marimba player Ludwig Albert. His pupil, member of the PRSO and excellent marimba player Ladislav Bilan, will perform with him on stage. The radio orchestra will then give a portrayal of our neighbouring planet, Venus. Venus, the Bringer of Peace - this is how the English pedagogue and late-Romanticism composer Gustav Holst portrayed it in his Planets cycle.  

The highlight of the evening will be the Czech première of Concerto for Marimba No. 5 "The Story of the Bamboo Cutter" by Taiwanese composer and marimba player Ching-Chen Lin. This composition takes its inspiration from a Japanese story (monogatori) from the turn of the 9th and 10th centuries. The story details the life of Kaguya-hime, a princess from the Moon who is discovered as a baby inside the stalk of a glowing bamboo plant by an old bamboo cutter, who brings her up as his own child. The young princess attracts a number of suitors and charms even the Japanese emperor. Gradually it is revealed that her origins are celestial and that she should return to her home on the Moon. Will she leave or will the emperor's love bind her? 

Programme

Ludwig Albert: The Universe. Double Concerto for Two Marimbas and String Orchestra (Czech première)  

Gustav Holst: Venus, the Bringer of Peace (from the Planets cycle, Op. 32)  

Ching-Chen Lin: Concerto for Marimba No. 5. The Story of the Bamboo Cutter (Czech première)  

Performers 

Andrés Maurette O'Brien conductor 

Ludwig Albert marimba 

Ladislav Bilan Jr. marimba 

PRSO

We reserve the right to change the programme performers.