Concerts
Music’s Power Couples 2
Venue
Vor Frelsers Kirke, Sankt Annæ Gade 29, 1416 København K
Date & Time
March 20 2025 19:30-21:30
Tickets
About the Concert
Program:
Julius Röntgen: Piano Trio PREMIERE!
Dmitri Smirnov: to be or not to be…
Elena Firsova: Four Seasons
Amanda Maier-Röntgen: Piano Quartet
Rudersdal Chamber Players Premiere a 1921 Piano Trio by Carl Nielsen’s Close Friend, the German-Dutch Composer Julius Röntgen!
Today, where almost everything is available online, discovering an unknown work by a renowned composer is nothing short of a sensation.
It feels like a musical time capsule when the yellowed, handwritten sheet music is transformed into sound for the very first time: late Romantic in style and full of beautiful melodies.
You can witness this moment yourself on March 20 and 21 at 19:30 in Vor Frelsers Kirke and Birkerød Sognegård, respectively.
These concerts mark the second and final part of Rudersdal Chamber Players’ series Music’s Power Couples, focusing on composer couples.
Röntgen (1855–1932) was humorously referred to as “not the famous one”, alluding to the inventor of X-rays, who was a distant relative. Nevertheless, he was at the heart of the musical elite of his time. He performed as the soloist in Brahms’ Piano Concerto No. 2, conducted by Brahms himself, and he was a close friend of both Edvard Grieg and Carl Nielsen.
His wife, the Swedish violinist and composer Amanda Maier, tragically passed away at just 41 years old, leaving behind an unfinished piano quartet, which Röntgen later completed.
The second featured composer couple is Elena Firsova and Dmitri Smirnov. This time, they are presented with two piano quartets, both written for Rudersdal Chamber Players in 2019.
Elena’s Four Seasons is inspired by English weather, while Dmitri drew on Shakespeare’s Hamlet for his quartet “To be or not to be…”. This became one of his final works, as he passed away eight months after its premiere, one of the early victims of the pandemic.
Rudersdal Chamber Players have continued collaborating with Elena and will release a recording of their chamber music this summer in celebration of her 75th birthday.
Music’s Power Couples 2
Venue
Birkerød Sognegård, Kirkevej 2, 3460 Birkerød
Date & Time
March 21 2025 19:30-21:30
Tickets
About the Concert
Program:
Julius Röntgen: Piano Trio
Dmitri Smirnov: to be or not to be…
Elena Firsova: Four Seasons
Amanda Maier-Röntgen: Piano Quartet
Rudersdal Chamber Players Premiere a 1921 Piano Trio by Carl Nielsen’s Close Friend, the German-Dutch Composer Julius Röntgen!
Today, where almost everything is available online, discovering an unknown work by a renowned composer is nothing short of a sensation.
It feels like a musical time capsule when the yellowed, handwritten sheet music is transformed into sound for the very first time: late Romantic in style and full of beautiful melodies.
You can witness this moment yourself on March 20 and 21 at 19:30 in Vor Frelsers Kirke and Birkerød Sognegård, respectively.
These concerts mark the second and final part of Rudersdal Chamber Players’ series Music’s Power Couples, focusing on composer couples.
Röntgen (1855–1932) was humorously referred to as “not the famous one”, alluding to the inventor of X-rays, who was a distant relative. Nevertheless, he was at the heart of the musical elite of his time. He performed as the soloist in Brahms’ Piano Concerto No. 2, conducted by Brahms himself, and he was a close friend of both Edvard Grieg and Carl Nielsen.
His wife, the Swedish violinist and composer Amanda Maier, tragically passed away at just 41 years old, leaving behind an unfinished piano quartet, which Röntgen later completed.
The second featured composer couple is Elena Firsova and Dmitri Smirnov. This time, they are presented with two piano quartets, both written for Rudersdal Chamber Players in 2019.
Elena’s Four Seasons is inspired by English weather, while Dmitri drew on Shakespeare’s Hamlet for his quartet “To be or not to be…”. This became one of his final works, as he passed away eight months after its premiere, one of the early victims of the pandemic.
Rudersdal Chamber Players have continued collaborating with Elena and will release a recording of their chamber music this summer in celebration of her 75th birthday.
The concert is recorded by Danish Radio
