Mihkel Kerem: Orchestral Music, Vol. 2 Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra & Andrew Manze

• Mihkel Kerem (b. 1981): Symphony No. 7:
• 1 Kerem: Symphony No. 7 25:21
• Symphony No. 8:
• 2 Kerem: Symphony No. 8: I. Mesto 14:24
• 3 Kerem: Symphony No. 8: II. Comodo 06:08
• 4 Kerem: Symphony No. 8: III. Volante 06:23
• Total Runtime 52:16

Info zu Mihkel Kerem: Orchestral Music, Vol. 2

Der estnische Komponist Mihkel Kerem - 1981 in Tallinn geboren und seit 2015 erster Geiger im Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra - nutzte den Covid-Lockdown, um nicht weniger als vier Sinfonien zu komponieren, von denen zwei, seine Siebte und Achte, als kontrastreiches Paar konzipiert sind. Kerems düstere und bedrohliche Siebte Sinfonie zeichnet, ähnlich wie die von Sibelius, einen riesigen Bogen in Sonatenform, der aus dem Anfangsmaterial erwächst und wieder in dieses zurückkehrt. Ihre Klangwelt liegt irgendwo zwischen Sibelius und Schnittke und verbindet ein Gefühl natürlichen sinfonischen Wachstums mit dramatischen Wendungen und einer kaleidoskopischen Vielfalt an Texturen. Die Nr. 8, die ebenfalls auf Sibelius' Siebte anspielt, indem sie deren berühmtes Posaunenthema zitiert, ist ein gewaltiges, gemächliches Accelerando, dessen drei miteinander verbundene Sätze an die nordisch-baltische Tradition anknüpfen, die kontrollierte Kraft des Orchesters zu nutzen, um die Weite der Natur zu suggerieren. Es spielt das Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra unter der Leitung von Andrew Manze, fast ein Jahrzehnt lang Chefdirigent der NDR Radiophilharmonie in Hannover.

Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra
Andrew Manze, Dirigent

The Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra
is one of the oldest concert-giving organisations in the world, and the second oldest in Britain. The origins of its concert series date back to the formation of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Society, which administers it, in 1840. The Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, as it was called then, acquired the title ‘Royal’ in 1957. In 1989 the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Society and Orchestra received an Honorary Fellowship from the Liverpool John Moores University and in 1991 were the first organisations to be granted the freedom of the City of Liverpool. A further honour of Meritorious Service was granted by the City of Liverpool in 1997.

In September 2006, Vasily Petrenko became Principal Conductor of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra. He is the youngest person and the first Russian to have held this appointment in the Phil’s 165-year old history.

A distinguished list of previous Principal Conductors includes Max Bruch, Sir Charles Hallé, Sir Henry Wood, Sir Malcolm Sargent, Sir John Pritchard, Sir Charles Groves, Walter Weller, David Atherton, Marek Janowski, Libor Pešek KBE, Petr Altrichter and Gerard Schwarz.

The RLPO made its first tour abroad in 1966 and has since given concerts in the USA and Far East, as well as throughout Europe. In 1993 the RLPO became the first non-Czech orchestra to have the honour of performing the opening concerts at the Prague Spring Festival, and has returned to Prague several times, most recently in September 2005. In 2006, the Orchestra has toured Spain and played a gala concert in Malta.

The Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, committed to the encouragement of today’s composers, has commissioned new works from many leading contemporary composers. Among the British composers it has worked with are Graham Fitkin, Django Bates and David Horne (Composer in Association 2000–2002). The Phil’s new music group, Ensemble 10/10 focuses on contemporary and chamber music. Vladimir Ashkenazy and Sir Simon Rattle are the Phil’s Artist Laureates 2008.

The RLPO’s extensive discography includes the complete symphonies of Beethoven (with Sir Charles Mackerras), Nielsen (Douglas Bostock), Vaughan Williams (Vernon Handley) and William Alwyn (David Lloyd-Jones), and music by Britten, Dvorak, Mahler, Rachmaninov, Smetana, Strauss and Suk. Several recordings also feature the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Choir. The Orchestra enjoys working with various recording companies including Naxos, Nimbus and Universal. In 1998 the Orchestra launched its own recording label, RLPO Live, which features recordings made in Liverpool Philharmonic Hall. New releases are released through an association with Avie Records.

In November 2001 the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and Classic FM, the UK’s leading classical music radio station, announced a ground-breaking partnership which makes the Liverpool Phil Classic FM’s Orchestra in North West England. This relationship has been extended to 2009 and will continue to raise the profile of the orchestra in the city of Liverpool and throughout the UK and build new audiences for classical music in the run-up to European Capital of Culture 2008.

Over 40,000 people each year participate in the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic’s outreach programmes, which have been widely acclaimed locally, regionally, and nationally. Musicians from the Orchestra work extensively in schools and in the community on a range of education projects including the annual schools’ concerts and the Phil’s five-year Music for Life residency in inner city Liverpool.

Andrew Manze
is widely celebrated as one of the most stimulating and inspirational conductors of his generation. His extensive and scholarly knowledge of the repertoire, together with his boundless energy and warmth, mark him out. He has been Chief Conductor of the NDR Radiophilharmonie, Hannover, since September 2014 and his contract has recently been extended until summer 2023. In the 2018/19 season he was appointed Principal Guest Conductor of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra.

In addition to a busy touring schedule within Germany, in the 2019/20 season the NDR Radiophilharmonie will return to China, following their highly successful autumn 2016 tour, and also make their BBC Proms debut. Manze and the orchestra have embarked on a major series of award-winning recordings for Pentatone, focussed on the works of Mendelssohn and Mozart. The first recording in the Mendelssohn series won the Preis der Deutschen Schallplatten Kritik. Manze has also just finished recording a cycle of the complete Vaughan Williams symphonies with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra for Onyx Classics.

In great demand as a guest conductor across the globe, Manze has long-standing relationships with leading orchestras that include the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, Camerata Salzburg, and the Scottish Chamber Orchestra. He is also a regular guest at the Mostly Mozart Festival in New York City. Recent and upcoming guest conducting highlights include engagements with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Concertgebouw, Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Oslo Philharmonic and the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the Hallé and Chamber Orchestra of Europe.

From 2006 to 2014, Manze was Principal Conductor and Artistic Director of the Helsingborg Symphony Orchestra. During this time he made a number of recordings with them including Beethoven Eroica (Harmonia Mundi) and a cycle of Brahms symphonies (CPO). He was also Principal Guest Conductor of the Norwegian Radio Symphony Orchestra from 2008 to 2011, and held the title of Associate Guest Conductor of the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra for four seasons.

After reading Classics at Cambridge University, Manze studied the violin and rapidly became a leading specialist in the world of historical performance practice. He became Associate Director of the Academy of Ancient Music in 1996, and then Artistic Director of the English Concert from 2003 to 2007. As a violinist, Manze released an astonishing variety of recordings, many of them award-winning.

Manze is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Music, Visiting Professor at the Oslo Academy, and has contributed to new editions of sonatas and concerti by Bach and Mozart, published by Bärenreiter, Breitkopf and Härtel. He also teaches, writes about, and edits music, as well as broadcasting regularly on radio and television. In November 2011 Andrew Manze received the prestigious ‘Rolf Schock Prize’ in Stockholm.

Booklet für Mihkel Kerem: Orchestral Music, Vol. 2