Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester Alumni String Sextet

^{Running time: approximately 1 hour and 45 minutes, including an interval}


Matjaž Bogataj, Jules Dussap, violin; Santa Vižine, Florian Peelman, viola; Maruša Turjak Bogataj, Léonard Frey-Maibach, cello 

Programme:
Alexander Borodin, String Sextet in D minor 
Erich Wolfgang Korngold, String Sextet in D Major, Op. 10
*
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Souvenir de Florence, Op. 70

A great legacy of the legendary conductor and visionary artist Claudio Abbado, the Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra is a pan-European talent pool that has played a special role in fostering the musical talents of young artists for over half a century. The precious bonds forged between aspiring young musicians are also the hallmark of the string sextet comprising the graduates of this impassioned enterprise. Under the creative leadership of violinist Matjaž Bogataj, leader of the second violins in the Bavarian State Orchestra, the chamber ensemble brings together musical partners and friends who today, as mature musicians, occupy prominent positions in major European orchestras; including the Slovenian-born Maruša Turjak Bogataj, principal cellist in the RTV Slovenia Symphony Orchestra. 
The evening’s programme pairs Korngold's splendid yet rarely heard youthful piece, already heralding the drama of the composer's mature style, with one of Tchaikovsky's most optimistic and virtuosic works; and, as a delightful complement, Borodin’s Sextet, to which the composer – better known for his orchestral pieces, himself referred to as ‘Mendelssohnian'.