Artists:

CITY OF CUNO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
Vyr. Conductor Constantine Orbelian (USA), leader Algimantas Treikauskas

Soloist ROELAND HENDRIKX (clarinet, Belgium)

Conductor VILMANTAS KALIŪNAS

Concert programme:

Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy - "A Midsummer Night's Dream" Overture
Robert Schumann - Concerto for Violin and Orchestra, D minor (Andreas N. Tarkmann's arrangement for clarinet)
Franz Schubert - Symphony No.5, B flat major

A friend of the Kaunas City Symphony Orchestra, conductor Vilmantas Kaliūnas presents to the Kaunas audience this evening an exceptional guest - one of the most famous Belgian clarinettists of today, Roeland Hendrikx.

Roeland Hendrikx is a sought-after soloist and has been invited to perform with some of Europe's most renowned orchestras, most notably on his recent Mozart concert tour of Flanders and the Netherlands with the London Philharmonic Orchestra. Hendrikx studied clarinet in Leuven and Antwerp, and after his studies he attended masterclasses given by Thea King and other clarinet legends. Hendrikx has been principal clarinet of the Belgian National Symphony Orchestra for many years, but in 2017 he began his solo career. However, Hendrikx's solo performances with prestigious orchestras do not overshadow his deep love for chamber music, which he actively promotes with the Roeland Hendrikx Ensemble, a collective he founded.

In addition to the well-known masterpieces of the classics, this evening's concert programme will also feature a special premiere of a clarinet arrangement of Schumann's Violin Concerto for Violin and Orchestra by Andreas N. Tarkmann, one of the most creative and renowned arrangers of instrumental and vocal music today.

In 2010, to celebrate Robert Schumann's jubilee year, Tarkmann decided to delve into the Romantic composer's work and published two arrangements that offer a rather special approach to Schumann's original works.

The arrangement of Schumann's Violin Concerto by A. N. Tarkmann began by considering whether a completely different solo instrument might be better suited to the work than the violin. He thought that the solo part, which is characterised by melodic sensitivity and integration into the orchestra, could be more easily and vividly represented by a wind instrument rather than a string instrument. Naturally, it was impossible to accurately transcribe the solo part note for note for a fundamentally different instrument, but it is amazing how Tarkmann, with his excellent arranging technique, was able to turn the violin concerto into a convincing clarinet concerto. This new version could now fill the gap for a great romantic clarinet concerto in the world classical repertoire.