SONIC MATTER – Carte blanche

What can one expect from a work entitled «FURIOSO»? Liszt's impetus, energetic cascades of sound, firecracker sounds? Bingo! Peter Ruzicka wrote the timpani-heavy orchestral piece, conceived as a homage to his late Zurich friend Rolf Liebermann, primarily as a crisp concert opener. The viola concerto "DEPART", written for Nils Mönkemeyer during the Corona crisis and commissioned by the Tonhalle-Gesellschaft Zürich, shows Ruzicka in mourning for one of the defining voices of the 20th outbreak - but then also the epic retreat into the dark, indefinite, into silence and extinction." As a conductor, Ruzicka often champions the work of George Enescu, particularly the Fourth Symphony, posthumously orchestrated by Pascal Bentoiu, which the self-critical Romanian composer had abandoned.

Peter Ruzicka, «FURIOSO» for orchestra– Swiss première
«DEPART», Concerto for viola and orchestra – World première
George Enescu, «Isis», Symphonic Adagio for women's choir and orchestra (orchestration by Pascal Bentoiu) – Swiss première
Symphony Nr. 4 E minor (completion by Pascal Bentoiu) – Swiss première