Dora Pejačević: Piano Concerto, Op. 33, Symphony in F-Sharp Minor, Op. 41 Peter Donohoe, BBC Symphony Orchestra & Sakari Oramo

• Dora Pejačević (1885 - 1923): Piano Concerto, Op. 33:
• 1 Pejačević: Piano Concerto, Op. 33: I. Allegro moderato 12:41
• 2 Pejačević: Piano Concerto, Op. 33: II. Adagio con estro poetico 08:20
• 3 Pejačević: Piano Concerto, Op. 33: III. Allegro con fuoco 07:54
• Symphony in F-Sharp Minor, Op. 41:
• 4 Pejačević: Symphony in F-Sharp Minor, Op. 41: I. Andante maestoso 14:25
• 5 Pejačević: Symphony in F-Sharp Minor, Op. 41: II. Andante sostenuto 11:06
• 6 Pejačević: Symphony in F-Sharp Minor, Op. 41: III. Scherzo. Molto allegro 07:12
• 7 Pejačević: Symphony in F-Sharp Minor, Op. 41: IV. Allegro appassionato 09:16
• Total Runtime 01:10:54

Info for Dora Pejačević: Piano Concerto, Op. 33, Symphony in F-Sharp Minor, Op. 41

Countess Mária Theodora (Dora) Paulina Pejacevic was born in September 1885 in Budapest. Young Dora grew up with all the advantages of an aristocrat: a fairy-tale life of opulent palaces set in idyllic landscapes; privilege, comfort, leisure, and wealth. From an early age she defied convention and walked her own path, one that eventually led her to "despise" the aristocracy.

Her father, Count Teodor Pejacevic, a lawyer, held several high posts, including that of Civil Governor of Croatia, Slavonia, and Dalmatia (1903-07). Her mother, Lilla Vay de Vaya, an "exceptionally beautiful" Hungarian countess, was a gifted pianist and singer, and a fine amateur artist. Her parents arranged private lessons with teachers at the Music School of the Croatian Music Institute, at Zagreb, which lead to further instruction in Dresden and Munich. Dissatisfied with the "limits" of her formal studies, Pejacevic pursued her own intensive course of self-instruction in composition. Having taken her music education into her own hands, she set off to enrich and broaden her intellectual horizons, travelling to cultural centres in Germany, Austria, Czechoslovakia, and Hungary. During these travels, she came to know the leading artists, poets, and intellectuals of the day.

The Piano Concerto was her first orchestral composition, and the first piano concerto by any Croatian composer. She composed the Symphony in F-sharp minor during the first world war, whilst also working as a volunteer nurse. For its first complete performance, in 1920, she revised the work, which is here recorded in this final version.

Peter Donohoe, piano
BBC Symphony Orchestra
Stephen Bryant, musical direction
Sakari Oramo, conductor

Sakari Oramo
is Chief Conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra. A guest conductor at the highest international level and a prolific recording artist, his performances combine structural cohesion with authority, elegance and passionate delivery.

Guest engagements during the 2021/22 season include returns to the Berliner Philharmoniker, Wiener Symphoniker, Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester, and Tampere Philharmonic Orchestra.

Engagements in the past season have included his final concerts as Chief Conductor of the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic as well as guest appearances with the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Ostrobothnian Chamber Orchestra, Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra and Berliner Philharmoniker.

In 2018 he conducted the European premiere of Brett Dean’s new Cello Concerto, performed by Alban Gerhardt with Berliner Philharmoniker. Oramo has most recently worked with the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester, Staatskapelle Dresden, Wiener Philharmoniker, Czech Philharmonic, Boston Symphony, New York Philharmonic and Helsinki Philharmonic orchestras.

2021/22 marks Oramo’s ninth season with the BBCSO. With this Orchestra he continues to champion new and rarely performed works – including William Alwyn’s opera Miss Julie, Betsy Jolas’ Onze Lieder, and the world premiere of Victoria Borisova-Ollas’ Violin Concerto (performed by Baiba Skride) – presenting them alongside stalwarts such as Mendelssohn’s Elijah and Haydn’s Trumpet Concerto (with Håkan Hardenberger). The season also includes performances at the Last Night of the Proms 2021 and at the Barbican 40th Anniversary celebration. Oramo is a regular conductor at the BBC Proms and during the summer of 2019 he conducted several with the BBCSO and Chorus – including the Last Night of the Proms, which he has previously conducted in 2014, 2016 and 2017.

Music Director of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra between 1998 and 2008, Oramo has served as the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra’s Honorary Conductor since 2012, following a decade as their Chief Conductor. He was also Principal Conductor of the West Coast Kokkola Opera from 2004 to 2018 and Principal Conductor of the Ostrobothnian Chamber Orchestra from 2013 to 2019. An accomplished violinist, Oramo was originally concertmaster of the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra. In 2014 he made his debut in the BBC Proms Chamber Music series, performing Prokofiev’s Sonata for Two Violins with Janine Jansen.

Recording successes include the BBC Music Magazine’s Orchestra award for Nielsen Symphonies Nos. 1 and 3 with the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, which completes their highly acclaimed Nielsen cycle on the BIS label, and a Gramophone Award win in the 2019 Orchestral category for Rued Langgaard Symphonies Nos.2 & 6 and Jacob Gade’s Tango Jalousie with Wiener Philharmoniker and soprano Anu Komsi. Busoni’s Piano Concerto with Kirill Gerstein recorded with Boston Symphony Orchestra (Myrios) won in the Audio and Video category at the 2020 ICMA awards. Other recent releases include the BBC Symphony Orchestra orchestral works by Sibelius (including the Lemminkäinen Suite), Rachmaninov Piano Concertos Nos.2 and 3 with Yevgeny Sudbin, and Florent Schmitt: Suites from ​‘Antoine et Cléopâtre’ & Symphony No.2.

Booklet for Dora Pejačević: Piano Concerto, Op. 33, Symphony in F-Sharp Minor, Op. 41