New Year’s Concert with Antony Hermus
Johann Strauss Jr., Ouverture from: Die Fledermaus
Josef Strauss, Eislauf, Polka schnell für Orchester, op. 261
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Danse of the Clowns from: The Snow Maiden
Johann Strauss Jr., Frühlingsstimmen, op. 410
Pietro Mascagni, Intermezzo from: Cavalleria rusticana
Charles Gounod, Ah, je veux vivre from: Roméo et Juliette
Manuel de Falla, Danza final from: El sombrero de tres picos
(break)
Johann Strauss Jr., Bauern-Polka, op. 276
George Gerschwin, Summertime from: Porgy and Bess
Johann Strauss Jr., Unter Donner und Blitz, op. 324
Antonín Dvořák, Song to the Moon from: Rusalka
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Waltz of the Flowers from: The Nutcracker
Sergei Prokofiev, Midnight from: Cinderella
Hans Christian Lumbye, Champagne Galop, op. 14
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
The Belgian National Orchestra presents a dazzling New Year’s concert conducted by chief conductor Antony Hermus. He kicks off 2024 with works that festively look ahead to the year to come. His 'special guest'? The well-known Russian soprano Sofia Fomina! In time-honoured fashion, the concert will conclude with Johann Strauss Senior’s famous Radetzky March.
Dressing up, excessive eating and drinking, wearing masks ... with these, winter comes to an end during Carnival in the month of February. An ideal opportunity to perform the overture to Die Fledermaus, a masterpiece by the waltz king Johann Strauss Junior and perhaps the most famous operetta of all time. In March, the awakening of spring makes feelings run high, as they do in Mascagni’s opera Cavalleria rusticana. From that, the heartbreaking interlude is played.
In summer, it is time for Gerschwin's Summertime, performed by soprano Sofia Fomina, who also will sing Dvořák's famous Song to the Moon. However, summer is soon over and winter is already knocking at the door. To the tones of Tchaikovsky’s Flower Waltz, an excerpt from his ballet The Nutcracker, the Christmas tree is put back up.
Antony Hermus, conductor
Sofia Fomina, soprano
© Photo by Caroline Lessire
Antony Hermus
Antony Hermus was recently appointed Chief Conductor of the Belgian National Orchestra, starting an initial four-year term in September 2022 with a Designate year.
Sofia Fomina
Noted for her “formidably striking” and “stunning silvery” soprano sound as well as her committed stage craft, Sofia Fomina appears regularly on the most important opera stages, recital and concert
