Legends, folk tales and nature-inspired sounds

Music compositions from Cyprus, its legends, Norwegian folk tales and beyond are coming soon as the Cyprus Symphony Orchestra continues its winter programme. A new series of concerts has been announced for February, reaching audiences in Larnaca, downtown Nicosia, Paphos and Dali.

Kickstarting next month’s CySO evenings is the Chamber Music 4 concert on February 1, featuring the CySO Piano Quartet. Concertmaster Wolfgang Schroeder, principal cellist Jakub Otčenašék and principal viola Kumiko Okutomi of the Cyprus Symphony Orchestra, alongside the distinguished pianist Gergana Georgieva, join forces to present two landmarks of the Romantic chamber repertoire.

In this programme, held at Larnaca’s Municipal Theatre G Lycourgos, the CySO Piano Quartet contrasts the French refined elegance of Gabriel Faure with the characteristic German passion and drama of Johannes Brahms.

On February 13, the internationally esteemed conductor and composer Nimrod Borenstein will lead a special programme titled Cyprus, Island of Legends, at Pallas Theatre in Nicosia. In this concert, Cyprus is the setting for three of the musical works, while a whole new composition by Borenstein, who will conduct the orchestra on the evening, is inspired by Cyprus legends.

Along with Borenstein’s world premiere of Legends of Cyprus, the concert will feature pieces by Samuel Coleridge, Antonín Dvořák and Franz Schubert with a score about the story of Rosamunde, a humble shepherdess who becomes Princess of Cyprus.

Later in the month, the orchestra will present the Premiere 4 concert, welcoming back as the featured soloist, the orchestra’s former principal cellist Peter Gospodinov and now solo cellist at the Kuopio Symphony Orchestra in Finland. In this highly engaging programme, the CySO also welcomes to the podium the highly reputable Finnish conductor Kalle Kuusava, winner of prestigious conducting competitions.

The programme will include works by the distinguished Cypriot composer Charis Sophocleous, Constantin Papageorgio and Carl Maria von Weber. Two concerts will take place, first at Pallas Theatre on February 19 and then at Municipal Theatre G Lycourgos on February 20.

The orchestra will end its February performances with a special musical evening in the heart of Dali, Nicosia. In the Orchestra 4all2 – Majestic Nature concert, three masterpieces that make up the programme are inspired by the beauty of nature and a Norwegian folk legend. The excellent Cypriot conductor Andreas Asiikkis will lead the orchestra into Smetana’s Vltava, Beethoven’s Pastoral Symphony and Grieg’s Peer Gynt Suites.

Cyprus Symphony Orchestra February Concerts

Chamber Music 4 – CYSO Piano Quartet. February 1. Municipal Theatre G. Lycourgos, Larnaca. Cyprus, Island of Legends. February 13. Premiere 4. February 19. Pallas Theatre, Nicosia. February 20. Municipal Theatre G. Lycourgos, Larnaca. Majestic Nature. February 28. Panorama Movie Theatre, Dali, Nicosia. Tel: 22-463144, www.cyso.org.cy