Symphoniker Hamburg / Alexander Malofeev / Sylvain Cambreling by Brucher, Gershwin, Rimsky-Korsakov, Frá (2024/2024), Hljómsveitarstjóri Sylvain Cambreling, Laeiszhalle, Hamburg, Germany

The Haspa New Year’s concert opens with music by Nikolai Brücher, the Symphoniker Hamburg’s composer and music librarian: a new work, a joyous opening piece that celebrates both the Laeiszhalle and its resident orchestra. That is followed by George Gershwin’s Piano Concerto in F major. Featuring a catchy melody, the work was highly innovative in its time, and calls for a keen jazz instinct from Alexander Malofeev, the soloist for the evening. The concert comes to a close with Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade from 1888, which is by far his most popular orchestral piece. Talking about his work, Rimsky-Korsakov explained that it is »structured around individual images from ›1001 Nights‹: The Sea and Sinbad’s Ship, The Tale of the Kalendar Prince, The Young Prince and the Young Princess, Festival at Baghdad, The Ship Breaks against a Cliff Surmounted by a Bronze Horseman. These images are connected by short sections for solo violin, which represent how Scheherazade narrates her wonderful tales for the wrathful Sultan Shahryar«.