Requiem for Chernobyl

This is what the nuclear power station accident that shocked the world sounds like. Requiem for Chernobyl revisits the tragic disaster of 1986 and the ensuing chaos in the city of Pripyat. The impact of the work is enhanced by soundscapes recorded in Chernobyl and visual imagery. At the end of the concerto, the focus turns to hope as nature reclaims the abandoned ghost town. “Rasmussen’s piano concerto is one of the most significant new works in its genre,” says Chief Conductor John Storgårds of the piece, which is receiving its world premiere. Nielsen, for his part, takes the audience to Rasmussen’s home region, the landscapes of the Faroe Islands, and to the humour of his final symphony – a work that is anything but what its epithet ‘simple’ might suggest.