Sibelius & Beethoven

Rising Brazilian star Guido Sant’Anna visits Iceland for the first time and plays a solo from the ever-popular and magnificent Violin Concerto by Jean Sibelius. Sant'Anna rose to stardom as a violinist when he won the Fritz Kreisler Violin Competition in 2022, the first South American violinist to do so. Few solo concertos are as rich and passionate, and the piece's popularity is therefore easily understood when listening to the concerto.

Principal Guest Conductor of the Iceland Symphony Orchestra, Tomáš Hanus, conducts Beethoven's 3rd Symphony in the second half of the concert. The so-called Eroica Symphony marked a turning point in musical history when it was premiered in 1805. The piece was longer and more complex than had previously been seen in the world of symphonic music, its emotional depth was greater, and the entire progression of the symphony was revolutionary. Few works are as deeply connected to the contemporary era from which they sprang; the composer dedicated the work to Napoleon Bonaparte but later crossed out the dedication.