Photo, Andy Paradise
Pekka Kuusisto directs the Norwegian Chamber Orchestra with singer Katarina Barruk, guitarist Arnljot Nordvik & drummer Christer Jørgensen.
Katarina Barruk: songs based on the joik indigenous song-type from Sábmie
Michael Tippett: Divertimento on ‘Sellinger’s Round’ – Lament (second movement)
Philip Glass: String Quartet No.3, ‘Mishima’ – Blood Oath (fifth movement)
Hannah Kendall: Weroon Weroon (UK premiere)
Johann Sebastian Bach arr. Reger: Chorale Prelude ‘O Mensch, bewein’ dein’ Sünde gross’, BWV622
Caroline Shaw: Plan & Elevation – The Beech Tree (fifth movement)
Arvo Pärt: Fratres
Dmitry Shostakovich arr. R. Barshai: Chamber Symphony (from String Quartet No.8)
Pekka Kuusisto brings the strings of the Norwegian Chamber Orchestra to the Proms for a programme that reflects on human injustice. Shostakovich wrote his String Quartet No. 8 in Dresden, contemplating the Allied bombing of the city during the Second World War. For some, the work also speaks of the oppression of the Russian people under Stalin’s rule. In a different time and place, singer and composer Katarina Barruk – one of only a handful of remaining speakers of the Ume Sámi language – is a living beacon for her native tongue and culture, performing songs that combine the traditional and the modern.