Jyväskylä Sinfonia: Chamber Concert: Moments and Treasures

Sun 8 Nov, Konginkangas Village Hall, 2 pm
Elias Lassfolk, violin
Kaisamari Kekkonen, violin
Dmitri Vasilevsky, viola
Annika Valkeajoki, cello
Ari Mansala, double bass

Jean Sibelius: Impromptu
W. A. Mozart: Divertimento No. 1 “Salzburg”
Antonín Dvořák: String Quintet No. 2

In Finland, people listen to Sibelius with their hearts in a knot and keep him on the nation’s mantelpiece as a national hero. The Czechs’ attitude towards Antonín Dvořák is not all that different. By the turn of the 20th century, there was a strong demand for a national identity in the Czech lands, and Dvořák, who had grown up as a genuine country boy, was perfectly placed to meet it: his flowing, direct and generous-hearted melodies capture something remarkably true about the West Slavic soul and its yearning for freedom. This is true, among other works, of Dvořák’s String Quintet, one of his key works, where Schubertian brilliance and Bohemian rusticity join hands as exuberantly as can be!

What could better support peoples who have sought and won freedom than Sibelius, whose Impromptu ranks among his most moving and impressive short works? And to round things off, the most timeless of music: Mozart. Jyväskylä Sinfonia’s punchy string quintet is ready to conquer not only its home turf, but also Muurasjärvi and Konginkangas—with a return to musical roots at their source!