On 15 February, the orchestral work Splendour by composer Tímea Dragony, conducted by Gergely Madaras, will be premiered in Finland with the Turku Philharmonic Orchestra.
The concert will be streamed live on the orchestra’s website at 7pm local time. The piece will also be performed on the following day, 16 February. In addition to the world premiere, the Colourful Virtuso concert will also feature Jacques Ibert’s Flute Concerto and Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 5. (E minor), with Noémi Győri as soloist.
Tímea Dragony is a renowned artist of the composer society. Her orchestral compositions can often be heard on concert podiums and at special events. In 2022, the Hungarian National Philharmonic Orchestra premiered her work ‘The Bridge’ by Bifrost in the Müpa Budapest’s Discoveries series, her composition Onyx was performed, and in the autumn of 2023, two major vocal symphonic works by the St. Stephen Philharmonic Orchestra were performed at the Béla Bartók National Concert Hall in Budapest.
Gergely Madaras, conductor, feels and „speaks” the musical language of Tímea Dragony’s compositions, working with the composer for the third time. In 2017, he premiered Crann Bethadh (The Celtic Tree of Life) with the Hungarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, and in 2018, he conducted the premiere of the orchestral song cycle Virradás (The Vigil) with vocalist Katalin Halmai and the Franz Liszt Chamber Orchestra.
The composition Splendour is a solemn, pathetic orchestral work with a grand arch. The title means radiance, shining light. The spiritual background of the piece is based on the human values that the composer considers important and defining in life, such as the need for emotions at all times, perseverance and strength. We experience them every day in our environment and in our lives. They influence us and, in addition, the force of nature and the power of endurance and vitality prevail in nature. The musical expression of these expressive, powerful character ‘images’, sometimes depicting nature, is this expansive, energetic composition for symphony orchestra.