Upcoming concerts

Welcome to experience historical moments, as Moses Pergament’s first piano concerto, composed in 1952, finally will be performed in Finland!

During the Helsinki Metropolitan Orchestra concerts, you will also hear music from two composers that were closely associated with Pergament: in addition to the piano concerto, the program includes Hugo Alfvén’s “Vallflickans dans” from Bergakungen and Jean Sibelius’ Symphony No. 3. The concert will be conducted by the artistic director of the orchestra Sasha Mäkilä and the soloist is pianist Martin Malmgren.

Moses Pergament (1893-1977) was born in Helsinki and held an acclaimed composer debut concert in 1914, which featured the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra. Despite his significant musical output, he has been almost completely forgotten in Finnish musical life. Pergament’s family included many cultural figures, such as conductor Simon Parmet, pianist and composer Erna Tauro, and psychoanalyst Benjamin Rubinstein. While traveling and studying in Europe, Pergament absorbed the characteristics of modernism. During his adult years, Pergament lived in Sweden, where he faced opposition in the music world because of his background as a foreign-born Jew. Only in 1945, after three decades of activity in Sweden, was Pergament elected to the Swedish Composers’ Association – where he became the association’s first Jewish member. Pergament was a cosmopolitan, and his unique sound world combines romanticism, modernism, folk music, Jewish music, French music and several other styles.

The Helsinki Metropolitan Orchestra and pianist Martin Malmgren made a world premiere recording of Moses Pergament’s Piano Concerto in 2021, which will be released on CD later this year. The concerts on Thursday, April 11, in the New Pavilion, Kauniainen, and Friday, April 12, in the Temppeliaukio Church, Helsinki, are probably the first time the piano concerto will be performed publicly in Finland. The concert is part of a series of concert and recording projects aimed at rediscovering a unique but forgotten Finnish-born composer.

Program:

Hugo Alfvén: Vallflickans dans from Bergakungen (The Mountain King) Op. 37

Moses Pergament: Piano Concerto No. 1

Jean Sibelius: Symphony No. 3 in C, Op. 52

Martin Malmgren, piano
Sasha Mäkilä, conductor

Ticket price categories:

€20 – Regular ticket

€15 – Reduced ticket: pensioners, students, unemployed, conscripts, children between 12 and 18 years

€0 – Reduced ticket: one child under 12 years free of charge when accompanied by an adult

Tickets are available at the door one hour before the concert begins and in advance at https://holvi.com/shop/metorchestra/

The duration of the concert is approximately 2 hours, including an intermission. The concerts are realized thanks to support from Svenska kulturfonden, Konstsamfundet, Stiftelsen Tre Smeder, Eugène, Elisabeth och Birgit Nygréns stiftelse, William Thurings stiftelse, and in collaboration with Kauniainen city’s cultural services and Agora Music Collective.