Zlata Chochieva is making her debut as a guest soloist in the ninth seasonal programme of the Tenerife orchestra which is putting its Spring Pass on sale.

 

The conductor Karl-Heinz Steffens is returning to the island to conduct the Sinfónica de Tenerife in its ninth seasonal programme, which will feature works by Mozart and Mahler. Also, the pianist Zlata Chochieva will make her debut as a guest soloist in the Tenerife orchestra at the event which will take place this Friday [15], at 7:30 p.m. in the Auditorio de Tenerife Adán Martín.

Piano Concerto No. 17 in G major, K. 453 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is a piece in three movements created in 1784, in the full force of gallant classicism, and in which the soloist instrument is in constant dialogue with the orchestra. The work, in which the wind instruments take on a special role, reflects the light of this harmonic dialogue with an Allegreto as the finishing touch that invokes the song by a starling, which ended up participating in the first performance in Salzburg.

After the interlude, the Tenerife Symphony Orchestra will perform the piece that this Friday's programme takes its name from, Symphony No. 5 in C Sharp Minor, a score completed in 1902 which reflects the battle of opposites and contrasts that are very well-defined. The sound journey begins with a funeral march before reaching an exaltation of life in the final chords, with love as catharsis.

This composition marked the start of a creative phase for the Bohemian genius that was difficult to understand for his contemporary audience. However, thanks to the adagietto for strings and harps of the third movement included in the soundtrack of the Luchino Visconti film, Death in Venice, this work that had gone unnoticed for almost seven decades got a popular boost.

Karl-Heinz Steffens is the current principal conductor and artistic director of the Norrköping Symphony Orchestra. In recent seasons he has worked with the Bavarian Radio Symphony, Berlin Philharmonic, Helsinki Philharmonic, Israel Philharmonic, Munich Philharmonic, Orchestre National de Lyon, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, Toronto Symphony and Zurich Tonhalle, as well as with the Radio Symphony Orchestras of Berlin, Cologne, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Hannover, Leipzig and Stuttgart, among others.

Before becoming a conductor, Steffens was a highly sought-after clarinettist who also held several orchestral positions, culminating in the successive roles of principal clarinet with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra.

In his lyrical facet, Steffens has conducted several times at the Teatro alla Scala, leading shows such as Cosi fan Tutte, Don Giovanni and Götterdämmerung, and he has also been regularly invited to the Berlin State Opera. He conducted the Norwegian premiere of Pelléas et Mélisande at the Norwegian National Opera, where he also led the performances of Così fan tutte, Fidelio and the production of Tosca by Calixto Bieito.

The work of pianist Zlata Chochieva is considered by Gramophone magazine to be "one of the most consistently inspired, masterfully performed versions with a beautiful sound that I can remember"; her work is included in the Gramophone list as one of the 10 best recordings of Chopin.

Last season, Chochieva participated with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and the Aarhus Symphony Orchestra, the Chopin Society of Vancouver and the Berliner Klavier Festival to perform Rachmaninoff to mark the 150th anniversary of the composer. She also performed Dvorák's Piano Concerto with the Hamburg Camerata in the Elbphilharmonie. She made her debut in Singapore with a recital at the Victoria Hall, and in Taiwan performing Piano Concerto No. 1 by Chopin with the National Symphony Orchestra. She also made her orchestral debut in the United States at the Bard Music Festival with a tour of five recitals.

The Russian soloist has performed in many of the most important concert halls on the international scene, such as the Wigmore Hall in London, the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, the Konzerthaus in Berlin, the Konzerthaus in Vienna, the Tivoli Concert Hall in Copenhagen, Grand Hall of the Moscow Conservatory, the Philharmonie de Paris, the National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts in Taiwan, Casa da Musica in Porto and Teatro La Fenice in Venice. Chochieva worked with several leading orchestras, such as the Copenhagen Philharmonic, the Munich Chamber Orchestra, the Russian National Orchestra and the Nice Philharmonic Orchestra.

Once again, the Tenerife Association for Friends of Music ATADEM will give a talk on the two works of the programme. They will be presented by José Lorenzo Chinea Cáceres at 6:30 p.m. in the Sala Avenida, located in the hall of the Auditorio de Tenerife Adán Martín.

The tickets for this concert can be purchased until the day of the event on the website www.sinfonicadetenerife.es, at the auditorium's box office and by dialling the phone number 902 317 327 from Monday to Friday from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Saturdays from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.

From 20 February, it is also possible to purchase the Spring Pass for the Sinfónica de Tenerife, a special opportunity to enjoy the last nine concerts of the current season, with prices starting at 81 Euros. This subscription can be purchased through the normal sale channels.