RBC Symphony Orchestra - Ravel La valse
The Bradshaw Hall, Royal Birmingham Conservatoire
Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, 200 Jennens Road, B4 7XR
£15
£12 under 16s, over 60s
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Conductor Karen Ní Bhroin
Salomé Chitaia piano
Meyer arr. Berlioz Marche Marocaine (UK premiere)
Satie orch. Debussy Gymnopédie No.2
Ravel Piano Concerto in D for left hand
Bonis Trois femmes de légende
Ravel La valse
As part of Timbre and Colour in French Music – a Symposium.
Part of the RBC French Music Season
One of Ireland’s foremost young conductors, Karen Ní Bhroin has been making a name for herself, building a relationship with the London Symphony Orchestra, conducting the BBC Concert Orchestra at the Royal Albert Hall’s Christmas concert and returning to the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC National Orchestra of Wales and Manchester Camerata.
She conducts the RBC’s flagship orchestra in a concert that begins with two orchestrations, by Berlioz and Debussy, of piano works by Leopold de Meyer and Eric Satie. Mel Bonis’s three Femmes de légende focus on famous female characters – Salome, Ophelia and Cleopatra. These, too, were written first for piano or piano duet as part of a set of seven. Two works by Ravel also feature. First, his Piano Concerto for the Left Hand, commissioned by the concert pianist Paul Wittgenstein who had suffered the loss of his right arm during the First World War. And finally, La valse, which begins as an elegant Viennese dance that gradually swirls and spirals into chaos.
Georgian pianist Salome Chitaia’s (pictured) performances have taken her across the globe, including Poland, France, Italy, Ukraine, Serbia, Georgia, Israel, and the USA. A laureate of several international piano competitions, her recent concerto appearances include performances with the Birmingham Philharmonic Orchestra and the Israel Sinfonietta Beer-Sheva. She regularly participates in the most prestigious festivals in Georgia, including Night Serenades International Music Festival, From Easter to Ascension and Contemporary Music Festival of Tbilisi. She has collaborated with many renowned figures, including pianists Peter Donohoe and Pascal Rogé, violinists Geza Hosszu-Legocky and Yuri Kuroda, as well as composers François Bernard-Mâche, Vazha Azarashvili and Shavleg Shilakadze. In 2017, Salome was chosen to represent the Chopin Society in Warsaw Stowarzyszenie Smolna and since then, she has performed over 100 recitals and chamber music concerts in Poland.
Salome is a PhD student at Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, where she conducts practice-based research on Lisztian influences in Ravel’s pianism, funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council and Georgia’s International Education Center. She has actively contributed to the academic world, participating in events such as the Royal Musical Association Conferences and the International Musicology and Performance Symposium in Tbilisi. In 2023, she co-organised a project celebrating 30 years of diplomatic relations between Georgia and Israel, with concerts held in both countries and supported by the Ministries of Culture in Georgia and Israel, as well as the embassies. She is also the administrative director of the Birmingham International Piano Competition. In 2024, Salome was honoured to be included on the list of the “10 most successful Georgian women in the UK” by the Georgian embassy.
Photo © Marshall Light Studio
Running time approx. one hour and fifteen minutes