On March 27, at Genoa’s Teatro Carlo Felice, Maestro Vladimir Ashkenazy will be conducting I Solisti Aquilani in the world premiere of Francesco Antonioni’s Northern Lights, After the Thaw, for viola, clarinet and string orchestra. Featured soloists: Ada Meinich on viola, and Dmitri Ashkenazy on clarinet. A second performance will be held on March 28, at the Auditorium del Parco in L’Aquila.

Here is an excerpt of the composer’s introduction to his latest work.

“Northern Lights, After the Thaw is a concertante piece for viola, clarinet and string orchestra.
The kindred sonorities of the two solo instruments meld with refractions and interpolations of the orchestra in a sort of three-way concert, over the course of four movements, split into two uninterrupted flows of sound. The soloists alternate instrumental monologues and dialogues, as the orchestra provides the harmonic foundation, reflections and comments along the musical pathway.”