Golden Dances of Pharaohs

Stockholm

“Concerning Egypt, I will now speak at length, because nowhere are there so many marvellous things, nor in the whole world beside are there to be seen so many things of unspeakable greatness.” This is how Herodotus described Egypt, writing in the 5th century BC.

As Victoria Borisova-Ollas writes in the preface to her new clarinet concerto, Golden Dances of Pharaohs: “We know practically everything about daily habits of the Pharaohs, but there is an important part of this picture which is still missing: the sounds are not there. What were the timbres of their voices; the moods of their ritual songs? What was the music like when they danced?” Borisova-Ollas has now created her own personal answer to these questions which will be premièred on 6 May by Martin Fröst and the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Sakari Oramo.