The soloist, Tatu Kauppinen, won the Turku cello competition in 2022. He has studied at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki and is now a member of the Karajan Academy at the Berlin Philharmonic, where he started in February 2023. He is also studying at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Rostock. As an active chamber musician, he can be heard on many music festivals around Finland. Both Kauppinen and Bloxham are performing together with OCO for the first time.

On Friday Kauppinen will perform the Cello concerto in C Major by Joseph Haydn (1732-1809), one of the most important pieces in the cello literature. A touch of England will be brought to the program by the music of Benjamin Britten (1913-1976) and William Walton (1903-1983). The opening piece for the concert, Britten’s Prelude and Fugue Op. 29 for 18 strings is composed 1943 and contains the classical elements and clarity of the prelude & fugue -form popular during the baroque era – still with a distinct touch of Britten’s own sound. The concert culminates in William Walton’s both longing and intense Sonata for strings (1972), originally written for conductor Neville Marriner and Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields, based on the composers string quartet from the 1940’s.

The pre-concert talk starts at 6.15 in foajé on the second floor, with the OCO’s producer – outreach planner Emilia Otava interviewing the artists.

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Photo credits: Anna-Maria Viksten