The Philharmonic responds with masterpieces of Albanian sounds, the flute in elegance

Ives' "Unanswered Question" was the title of the work with which it opened the evening, but the Kosovo Philharmonic Orchestra in its first concert this year gave a powerful response to works from the world repertoire as well as the combination with the Albanian musical heritage. Fahri Beqiri's symphonic poem "Skënderbeu" was the homage to him on his 90th birthday. Italian conductor Marco Crispo's approach to this work was the innovation of the composer's iconic work. A unique chapter was the performance of French soloist Iris Daveiro on flute with Jacques Ibert's "Concerto for Flute and Orchestra". The concert culminated with Stravinsky's "The Firebird"

World classical music always remains a universal language that transcends geographical, cultural and linguistic borders. In its universality, Albanian music has occupied a special place in the concerts of the Kosovo Philharmonic. On Friday evening, the state music institution started the year with a rich program. Among the works of Debussy, Stravinsky and not only, the symphonic poem “Skënderbeu” was a homage to the distinguished composer, Fahri Beqiri.

This was the first performance of the Kosovo Philharmonic Orchestra this year in the Red Hall of the Youth Palace. The packed hall demonstrates the audience's loyalty and admiration for classical music. But also discipline, although in conditions like those where the Philharmonic concerts are held, noise is difficult to avoid.

The concert began with the work “The Unanswered Question” by the American composer Charles Ives. The light instrumental background of the strings begins the work as this nature becomes frustrated. Groups of instruments perform independent tempos and are thus established. Separately, the strings.

The symphonic poem “Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune” (Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun) by the French composer Claude Debussy begins with a flute solo opening with a descending and then ascending movement. The slow development of the theme is central, moving to the solo oboe and then back to the solo flute. The two flutes are then in unison, joined by the clarinet, while they are accompanied by string instruments.

Jacques Ibert's "Concerto for Flute and Orchestra" mainly highlights the soloist's skills. After the "Allegros", the "Andante" comes as melancholic and gentle, while the "Allegro scherzando" is fast and extremely virtuosic. Overall, the work highlights the elegiac nature of the instrument.

She considered her performance a moment of peace, referring to the musical theme.

"The composer wrote the work immediately after his father's death, so it was an emotional moment in his life. He managed to write something so beautiful, so I think that's the strength of writing this concerto. Every time I perform it, I live it," she said.

She said that this is the third time she has performed the piece. Previously with the Montenegro Philharmonic Orchestra. During her performance, she often looked at the audience. She considered it a beautiful moment as, as she said, she saw smiling faces while she played.

Meanwhile, he said he had a good time in Pristina, which he visited for the first time, expressing his desire to return.

“I had a great time with the people here. All the members of the Orchestra were very positive, open-minded. For someone who comes from afar, it is very important to be welcomed and I am glad that I felt that way. I hope to come back and stay longer. After all the projects in Paris, I could only stay for two days. But I really liked what I saw and I would like to come back,” said Iris Daveiro, first flautist of the Paris Opera Orchestra since January 2023. She trained as an orchestral musician with various French national orchestras and joined the “Gustav Mahler” youth orchestra as principal flute for two seasons. In parallel with her position at the Paris Opera, she pursues a career as a soloist and chamber musician in France and abroad. Her first album, “D'un matin de printemps” will be released this year.

The audience could not hold back their applause after the end of the second half, which ended with a long note from the flutist. They erupted at the end, bringing flutist Daveiro back on stage to perform an encore piece. Unaccompanied by the orchestra, she once again demonstrated her mastery of the instrument.

Albanian music has given classical music an emotional spirit, closely linked to the history, suffering and joys of a small people, but with a strong identity, also in terms of genuine musical creativity. The artistic communication between world music and Albanian music came through the symphonic poem "Skënderbeg" by the late composer, Fahri Beqiri, on the 90th anniversary of his birth.

It was like a march and a solemn work where the sounds are sharp while the emotion is internal and often culminating in the intonation and dynamics of the playing. There are many traditional Albanian elements which, although with a new approach from the conductor Marco Crispo, are unwavering. The tension in the playing of the brass instruments is a warning for the climax which has a powerful echo.

Italian conductor Marco Crispo brought new musical nuances to the piece with his approach. He said he took risks by answering the work's undefined questions.

"There were a lot of open questions in the work and I was thinking about what that meant. It was the first time I had come into contact with this music. So the question was: should I leave these questions open? Which means should I leave the musical point undefined with all the resources I have, or should I take a risk? I decided to take a risk and interpret it with the connections I had and which I think were as honest as possible with the composer's music to the audience," he said.

He has stated that he really took a risk with his approach to the work "Skënderbeg", but that there were musical sources that, according to him, had many doors and all led in different directions. That he had understood more about the history and character of Skënderbeg during his research.

"I answered these open questions. I don't know if they were the right ones, but I approached this work as I approach any other work, trying to be faithful to the undefined points," continued the Italian conductor who lives in Copenhagen.

Recently, he has worked with Italian and French repertoire, including Verdi’s “Falstaff” and “La Traviata”, Mozart’s “Così fan tutte” and “Don Giovanni”, Thomas’s “Hamlet”, and others. In the 2023/2024 season, Marco conducted “Tosca” in Copenhagen with the Lyngby-Taarbæk Symphony Orchestra, “Hänselund Gretel” at the Landestheater in Coburg, “Il Turco in Italia” at the Teatro Sociale in Rovigo and at the Teatro Dante Alighieri in Ravenna with the Luigi Cherubini Youth Orchestra.

In March last year, there was the first collaboration with the Kosovo Philharmonic. At the concert held at the closing of the 25th edition of the Francophonie Week, the soloists were Liza Kerob on violin and Altin Tafilaj on viola.

"This program was a natural consequence and continuity of the concerts we did together last year. The concert was mainly based on French rhythms that we brought to the Francophonie Week, while this year the leitmotif was again the French rhythm but more complicated because the program was more extensive, the works were larger. I found an orchestra that really wants to work, not only in terms of notes, but also styles. So I think it has made even more progress since last year," Maestro Crispo continued.

Regarding the symphonic poem "Skënderbeg", composed in 1969, the son of the work's author, composer Valton Beqiri, has said that such approaches to these works are welcome, but that they preserve elements of Albanian folklore.

"Not everyone likes such an approach since it is a work that we have heard on many occasions. It was a work that was also performed on the occasion of the solemn concert of Kosovo Independence and in these situations when the audience already knows the work, it is a bit of a small risk if it changes the approach. But the conductor as a conductor has his own reason, approach and idea, and of course I congratulate him for his dedication in treating the work and of course in practicing it by heart as much as he could handle", said Beqiri, expressing that it was a special emotion to listen to his father's work.

"There are certain details that are naturally elements of our folklore and of course this collaboration of folklore and the works of our composers with foreign conductors is very welcome and affects the capacity building and values ​​of the Kosovo Philharmonic," he said further.

The “Firebird” suite by Russian composer Igor Stravinsky was the last on the program. The rhythms illustrated the supernatural elements of “The Firebird”, set to the harmony of the Orchestra, which in this work is joined on piano by Denita Dedushaj, who also plays a part on the celesta, the sounds of which were heard for the first time on the music scene.

Music professor Besa Luzha said that the program of the Philharmonic's first concert this year is a good start to the new concert season.

"A beautiful, interesting program, with works that were connected to each other even thematically. The flutist, although young, was extremely musical, very talented, with a very beautiful interpretation technique. A beautiful performance and very good cooperation with the Philharmonic," she said.

He singled out the "Concerto for Flute and Orchestra" as well as the symphonic poem "Skënderbeg", also emphasizing the poor conditions in the space where the Philharmonic concerts take place.

"In the second part, we had the opportunity to listen to some major works of Kosovo literature, such as the symphonic poem 'Skënderbeu' by Fahri Beqiri, but also Stravinsky's 'Firebird', which is a masterpiece. Of course, our desire is that the conditions be dignified as soon as possible, to have an even more powerful and beautiful experience, because whether we wanted it or not, these conditions affect the performance. There is noise, a narrow space, insufficient for the audience to be larger," said Luzha.

On Sunday, the Kosovo Philharmonic performed a concert at the National Opera and Ballet Theater in Tirana, while on January 30, it returns to the Atelier of the Youth Palace in Pristina to bring one of Gioacchino Rossini's vocal-instrumental masterpieces.

Friday's concert was the precursor to the beautiful and equally powerful programs of the Kosovo Philharmonic throughout the year.