MUSTONEN & THE EMPEROR

The multi-talented Olli Mustonen excels in the rare triple role of composer, pianist and conductor. Misterioso, Furioso, Ad Astra – does Mustonen’s Triptych anticipate the evening’s proceedings?

Ludwig van Beethoven’s Fifth Piano Concerto was written in the shadow of Napoleon’s wars of conquest. Soon the public gave the work the politically inflammatory nickname ‘Emperor’ – without asking the composer. Rather than describing an autocratic warlord, the title describes the majestic power with which Beethoven attained the grandiose sonorities of the Romantic era. The young Felix Mendelssohn’s visit to the British Isles inspired the Scottish moods of his Third Symphony. Cheerful village dances, Queen Mary Stuart’s elegy and vivid battle scenes. This is what the unadorned beauty of the lush moors sounds like.