The Tjeknavorian Symphony Orchestra: "A Family United by Passion"

The Milan Symphony Orchestra has taken bold steps, not only maintaining its ambitions, but exceeding them by leaps and bounds. This season is not a continuation, it is an ascent". Thus (after the usual interventions by political figures, with a strong jolt at the video intervention by Federico Freni, undersecretary of the Ministry of Economy: a politician, also from the Northern League, who shows equally vast enthusiasm and musical competence, the stuff of science fiction), during the presentation of the new season the thirty-year-old musical director, Emmanuel Tjeknavorian , expressed himself, in my humble opinion the most interesting and exciting musical reality of the recent Milanese years but not only, as he has amply demonstrated in the season currently underway. Interesting because he is good, indeed very good: obviously. But exciting, at least for me, because with him on the podium a very particular atmosphere is created, for many reasons but among which I highlight one, taken from one of his phrases, because it forcefully reminds me of something: "When making music, everyone must know how to listen to each other. We are not just an ensemble, we are a musical family united by a common purpose and passion."

It reminds me of something, I was saying: it was a concept that Claudio Abbado never tired of affirming since his first rehearsals as musical director of La Scala, repeating them throughout all the stages of his career with the many orchestras with which he proceeded on his artistic journey. Listening to them again, with the conviction and enthusiasm of a young man so full of talent, energy, enthusiasm, does a lot of good to the heart and makes you understand many things. Developing as much as possible the ability to listen to oneself, to "play chamber music even in the most crowded of symphonic organisms", translates into nine beautiful chamber proposals both at the Auditorium and at the glorious Gerolamo theatre, in which the soloists of the orchestra will form very diversified groups (and therefore we will hear music that is rarely heard) originating concerts that are ever so stimulating for those who listen and for those who perform, among whom Tjeknavorian himself appears on several occasions, who fortunately does not intend to give up his being a great violinist. Furthermore, it is very pleasing that the orchestra is leaving the Auditorium to interact with increasingly vast territories: it will be the orchestra - conducted by Francesco Lanzillotta - with which the Teatro Comunale di Piacenza will realize the splendid, courageous initiative of staging the so-called Trilogia Popolare by Verdi in two weeks, with a cast that would be the envy of any theater; it will collaborate with the Società del Quartetto for programs dedicated to chamber and symphonic Schubert; it will be in Parma in exchange with the Filarmonica Toscanini with music by Beethoven and Bruckner. The season features twenty-six programmes: twelve of which are conducted by Tjeknavorian, who has put together extremely wide-ranging programmes that include the two sublime Requiems by Verdi (excellent soloists: Chiara Isotton, Szilvia Vörös, Antonio Poli, Manuel Fuentes) and Brahms, which will engage the ever-growing choir of Massimo Fiocchi Malaspina, also called upon to undertake the difficult task of Handel's powerful Messiah (conducted by Fabio Biondi). Pieces by very different authors and countries: from Mahler's Fifth Symphony to Bruckner's colossal Seventh; from contemporaries Philip Glass and Nicola Campogrande to Luciano Berio; from the Viennese classicism of Beethoven and Brahms to the Russians Khačaturjan (a suite from the ballet Gayane composed by Tjeknavorian himself), Glinka, Stravinsky Rachmaninov, Šostakovič (the grandiose Fifth); and also Berlioz (the Symphonie fantastique), Liszt, Barber and Bernstein, de Falla, Tchaikovsky.

I have heard complaints that this season is too much of a “one man show”: apart from the fact that several conductors will be happy to listen to us (the young and talented Diego Ceretta, the excellent Marko Letonja, Yoel Gamzou, author of a personal completion of Mahler's Tenth, the young and very successful conductor Anna Rakitina), we will follow step by step the continuation of the path of a conductor so rich in stimuli for us in the audience and perhaps even more so for the group on stage, whose involvement I would say is palpable: very good, bar in the center and so on.