DOCSLIB.ORG

RTE NSO 4 Dec Prog:Layout 1

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
RTE NSO 4 Dec Prog:Layout 1 WATCH rte.ie/culture LISTEN RTÉ lyric fm RIMSKY-KORSAKOV Polonaise from Christmas Eve TCHAIKOVSKY Introduction, Melodrama and Dance of the Tumblers from The Snow Maiden Suite TCHAIKOVSKY Symphony No. 1, ‘Winter Daydreams’ David Brophy conductor FRIDAY 4 DECEMBER 2020, 7pm RDS CONCERT HALL 1 Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov 1844-1908 Polonaise (Christmas Eve) Rimsky-Korsakov’s opera Christmas Eve was first performed in St Petersburg in 1895. It is based on a story by Gogol, recounting Russian folk tales featuring the Devil and the mischief he can get up to on Christmas Eve by playing on the imaginations of simple peasants. The opera consists of a number of tableaux in one of which the Polonaise is performed as an act of homage to the Empress. Note by Richard Pine © RTÉ 2 Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky 1840-1893 The Snow Maiden Suite i. Introduction ii. Melodrama iii. Dance of the Tumblers The auguries for Tchaikovsky’s Snegurochka (The Snow Maiden) were favourable, the project re-uniting him with the playwright Alexander Ostrovsky with whom he had enjoyed a long creative partnership. The pair had first collaborated nearly a decade before when Tchaikovsky composed an Overture (his first large-scale orchestral piece) for Ostrovsky’s play, The Storm in 1864. They reunited several times more, Tchaikovsky providing incidental music for another play and Ostrovsky contributing to the libretto of the composer’s now all but lost first opera, The Voyevoda. In the early years of the 1870s, Ostrovsky again provided the libretto for Tchaikovsky’s The Oprichnik, their relationship surviving the composer’s mislaying of the libretto and, in embarrassed panic, substituting his own hastily written text. The faux pas was perhaps ameliorated by the artistic and popular (if not critical) success in 1873 of The Snow Maiden, Ostrovsky’s ‘spring legend’, for which Tchaikovsky had provided the incidental music. Ostrovsky’s play also prompted an opera of the same name from Rimsky-Korsakov in 1881. The play was itself based on a traditional fairytale about the daughter of Grandfather Frost and the Spring Fairy who yearns to feel love but can’t because her heart is made of ice. Its blend of fantasy, romance, imprisoned feelings and aching, unfulfilled emotion were the very ingredients that throughout Tchaikovsky’s life provided the grit that he transformed into musical pearls. 3 In all, Tchaikovsky composed 19 individual cues for Ostrovsky’s play. And did so, as he later recollected in a letter to his patron Nadezhda von Meck, ‘in three weeks, without exerting myself’. It was not an altogether accurate memory, composition having been hindered by an injury to his hand that rendered putting notes onto page painful and protracted. More reliable was another missive to von Meck in which Tchaikovsky described The Snow Maiden as “one of my favourite offspring. Spring is a wonderful time; I was in good spirits, as I always am at the approach of summer and three months of freedom. I think this music is imbued with the joys of spring that I was experiencing at the time”. Liberally borrowing from his abandoned opera Undine and from traditional Russian folk songs, The Snow Maiden boasts a colourful and animated score that adroitly spotlights sections of the orchestra to brilliant effect. Lifted in its entirety from Undine, the atmospheric, scene-setting ‘Introduction’ immediately establishes the sense of sylvan fantasy and the quiet wistfulness and swirling, yet-to-be-unleashed emotional impetus so characteristic of Tchaikovsky’s music. A wash of moody introspection with melancholic strings and drifting woodwinds, the subtle dark silkiness of the ‘Melodrama’ discreetly understates its title with all the sour-sweet poignancy of a love poem read aloud to an absent listener. One of The Snow Maiden’s most popular set pieces, the drunkenly effervescent ‘Dance of the Tumblers’ is a thrilling exercise in propulsive and playful orchestral bravura that shows off Tchaikovsky’s distinctive gift for brilliantly animated orchestration with an irresistibly, if exhausting, spirited gusto. Note by Michael Quinn © RTÉ 4 Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 1 in G minor, Op. 13 ‘Winter Daydreams’ i Allegro tranquillo ii Adagio cantabile ma non tanto iii Scherzo iv Finale (Andante lugubre–Allegro maestoso) When Tchaikovsky embarked on his first symphony in 1866 he was a composer more recognised for his potential than for his achievement. One of Russia’s leading musicians, Nikolay Rubinstein – who was devoted to Moscow’s musical life – had taken the young composer under his wing and given him more than was sufficient to keep body and soul together. This included music-theory teaching, accommodation in his own home, taking him to the theatre and opera, and introducing him to high society. Tchaikovsky’s inexperience in group teaching was a problem, but he found his classes, comprised almost entirely of young women, sympathetic; his shyness receded. With a staunch supporter of Moscow’s musical academic life behind him, Tchaikovsky decided to flex his compositional muscles in the most prestigious musical form of the nineteenth century, the symphony. He did so at a time when there were almost no Russian symphonies of note and the German tradition had entered a hiatus that would only be relieved when Bruckner and Brahms established themselves as the successors of Mendelssohn and Schumann. Tchaikovsky himself had a great deal to play for as his musical achievement so far was modest. With a busy schedule, the fastidious composer had to drive himself hard to create his first symphonic composition; much had to be written in the small hours. Its composition cost him dear, it seems. He thought he was going to die before completing it (we don’t know precisely why he thought this) and he started to suffer from insomnia and severely frayed nerves. At the end of July, according to Tchaikovsky’s brother, ‘all this erupted into a terrible 5 nervous attack, the like of which he never experienced again during his lifetime. The most distressing symptoms of this illness were dreadful hallucinations, which were so frightening that they resulted in a feeling of complete numbness in all his extremities’. Unremarkably he didn’t do much more composition at night after this, but the extreme effort he expended on the symphony resulted in a work that was, by any standards of the time and in comparison with other first symphonies, extremely successful. The effort was worth it then, for the symphony sounds spontaneous and inspired, though he revised it in 1874. Even Tchaikovsky liked it and continued to do so many years later, which was rare for him. Perhaps under the influence of Mendelssohn’s ‘Italian Symphony’, Tchaikovsky gave his one a title, ‘Winter Daydreams’. He also gave the first and second movements individual titles, ‘Daydreams on a winter journey’ and ‘Land of gloom, land of mists’, but they don’t seem to tell us much about the music. The last two are just Scherzo and Finale with no descriptive information. The first movement is exquisitely written with a ravishing orchestral sonority and a deft response to the demands of sonata form. Its themes are short, reflecting the German tradition, and are subject to extensive development. One unusual feature is the extended coda, which follows a misleading winding down of the material, which has been sending out closure signals that are contradicted by a reanimation of the music and a late climax. It’s all very satisfying and points to the fact that Tchaikovsky had little reason to be diffident about his command of musical form. After a dreamy introduction for muted strings, which recurs at the end, the second movement unfolds a lovely melody which might easily be mistaken for a Russian folksong. It is simple music that evolves through repetition and changing orchestration, but nobody else could have written such eloquent, appealing music. The Scherzo portion of the third movement was an orchestration of part of a piano sonata from 1865. Most agree that it sounds better in its orchestral form where its delicate tracery ravishes the ear. For the central section, the 6 Trio, Tchaikovsky writes a waltz, his first major venture, as David Brown writes, into a form that he would use with unparalleled virtuosity in his ballets and other symphonic works. For the Finale, Tchaikovsky breaks out into a sweat, as did many other composers tackling this most intractable part of the symphony. How do you wrap up a four-movement work in a satisfying way? He starts mysteriously at a slow tempo with a Russian folksong, which is later used as the upbeat second subject of the sonata-form Allegro maestoso that follows. Tchaikovsky uses fugato to drive the music along; to bring the work to a triumphant, optimistic close he generates a massive build up to a restatement of the folksong, now dressed as a chorale and very loud. It’s a thrilling culmination for a fine first venture into symphonic form. Tchaikovsky was well on his way to mastery. Note by Simon Trezise © RTÉ 7 David Brophy conductor David Brophy was born in Dublin and is a graduate of the Technological University Dublin and Trinity College Dublin. Following further studies in Ireland, England and Holland, he was appointed Apprentice Conductor with Chamber Choir Ireland and subsequently became the first appointee to take the position of Assistant Conductor with the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra. A former Principal Conductor of the RTÉ Concert Orchestra, David now enjoys a close relationship with both RTÉ orchestras in addition to regular appearances as guest conductor with the Ulster Orchestra. His career has seen him conduct throughout Europe, Africa, the United States, Canada and China. David has collaborated with many internationally acclaimed soloists, among them Tasmin Little, Julian Bliss, Barry Douglas, Sir Willard White, Martin Fröst, Lesley Garret, Sir James Galway, Lang Lang, Danielle de Niese, Nicola Benedetti, Kim Criswell, Daniel Hope, Dame Evelyn Glennie, Chloë Hanslip and Carolin Widmann.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Tchaikovsky.Pdf
    Tchaikovsky CD 1 1 Orchestrion It wasn’t unusual, in the middle of the 19th century, to hear sounds like that coming from the drawing rooms of comfortable, middle-class families. The Orchestrion, one of the first and grandest of mass-produced mechanical music-makers, was one of the precursors of the 20th century gramophone. It brought music into homes where otherwise it might never have been heard, except through the stumbling fingers of children, enduring, or in some cases actually enjoying, their obligatory half-hour of practice time. In most families the Orchestrion was a source of pleasure. But in one Russian household, it seems to have been rather more. It afforded a small boy named Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky some of his earliest glimpses into a world, and a language, which was to become (in more senses then one), his lifeline. One evening his French governess, Fanny Dürbach, went into the nursery and found the tiny child sitting up in bed, crying. ‘What’s the matter?’ she asked – and his answer surprised her. ‘This music’ he wailed, ‘this music!’ She listened. The house was quiet. ‘No. It’s here,’ cried the boy – he pointed to his head. ‘It’s here, and I can’t make it go away. It won’t leave me.’ And of course it never did. ‘His sensitivity knew no bounds and so one had to deal with him very carefully. Every little trifle could upset or wound him. He was a child of glass. As for reproofs and admonitions (with him there could be no question of punishments), what would have been water off a duck’s back to other children affected him deeply, and if the degree of severity was increased only the slightest, it would upset him alarmingly.’ Despite his outwardly happy appearance, peace of mind is something Tchaikovsky rarely knew, from childhood to his dying day.
    [Show full text]
  • The Development of the Russian Piano Concerto in the Nineteenth Century Jeremy Paul Norris Doctor of Philosophy Department of Mu
    The Development of the Russian Piano Concerto in the Nineteenth Century Jeremy Paul Norris Doctor of Philosophy Department of Music 1988 December The Development of the Russian Piano Concerto in the Nineteenth Century Jeremy Paul Norris The Russian piano concerto could not have had more inauspicious beginnings. Unlike the symphonic poem (and, indirectly, the symphony) - genres for which Glinka, the so-called 'Father of Russian Music', provided an invaluable model: 'Well? It's all in "Kamarinskaya", just as the whole oak is in the acorn' to quote Tchaikovsky - the Russian piano concerto had no such indigenous prototype. All that existed to inspire would-be concerto composers were a handful of inferior pot- pourris and variations for piano and orchestra and a negligible concerto by Villoing dating from the 1830s. Rubinstein's five con- certos certainly offered something more substantial, as Tchaikovsky acknowledged in his First Concerto, but by this time the century was approaching its final quarter. This absence of a prototype is reflected in all aspects of Russian concerto composition. Most Russian concertos lean perceptibly on the stylistic features of Western European composers and several can be justly accused of plagiarism. Furthermore, Russian composers faced formidable problems concerning the structural organization of their concertos, a factor which contributed to the inability of several, including Balakirev and Taneyev, to complete their works. Even Tchaikovsky encountered difficulties which he was not always able to overcome. The most successful Russian piano concertos of the nineteenth century, Tchaikovsky's No.1 in B flat minor, Rimsky-Korsakov's Concerto in C sharp minor and Balakirev's Concerto in E flat, returned ii to indigenous sources of inspiration: Russian folk song and Russian orthodox chant.
    [Show full text]
  • Tchaikovsky Tchaikovsky
    TCHAIKOVSKY Orchestral works including Symphonies 1 – 6 BIS-CD-1797/98 GOTHENBURG SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA / NEEME JÄRVI BIS-CD-1897-98_f-b.indd 1 10-11-15 12.06.43 TCHAIKOVSKY, Pyotr Ilyich (1840–93) The Six Symphonies Orchestral Works Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra The National Orchestra of Sweden Neeme Järvi conductor Total Playing Time: 7h 32m 43s 2 Disc 1 [77'10] Symphony No. 1 in G minor, ‘Winter Daydreams’, Op. 13 39'49 (1866/74) 1 I. Allegro tranquillo (‘Dreams of a Winter Journey’) 11'23 2 II. Adagio cantabile, ma non tanto (‘Land of Desolation, Land of Mists’) 9'59 3 III. Scherzo. Allegro scherzando, giocoso 7'27 4 IV. Finale. Andante lugubre – Allegro maestoso 10'41 The Snow Maiden, Op. 12 (1873) 16'33 Orchestral excerpts from the incidental music to Ostrovsky’s play 5 Introduction. Moderato assai 5'30 6 Entr’acte. Moderato assai 1'16 7 Melodrama. Andantino, quasi Allegretto 4'56 8 Dance of the Buffoons. Allegro vivace 4'39 9 Romeo and Juliet (1869/70/80) 19'29 Fantasy Overture after Shakespeare Andante non tanto quasi Moderato – Allegro giusto 3 Disc 2 [72'27] Symphony No. 2 in C minor, ‘Little Russian’, Op. 17 32'42 (1879 version) 1 I. Andante sostenuto – Allegro vivo 10'42 2 II. Andantino marziale, quasi moderato 6'19 3 III. Scherzo. Allegro molto vivace 5'00 4 IV. Finale. Moderato assai – Allegro vivo 10'24 5 Overture in F major (1866 version) (M.P. Belaieff) 11'47 6 Festive Overture on the Danish National Anthem 12'09 in D major, Op.
    [Show full text]
  • Transcultural Representation Of
    TRANSCULTURAL REPRESENTATION OF CIRCASSIAN MUSIC IN MILY BALAKIREV’S ISLAMEY: ORIENTAL FANTASY (1869) BY ANASTASSIA GRANKINA Thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies in partial fulfillment of the requirements for Master’s of Arts degree in Musicology Department of Music Faculty of Arts University of Ottawa © Anastassia Grankina, Ottawa, Canada, 2015 TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLE OF CONTENTS…………………………………………………………………………ii ABSTRACT……………………………………………………………………………………...iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS………………………………………………………………………v INTRODUCTION ...........................................................................................................................1 Chapter Outline ............................................................................................................................3 CHAPTER 1: Said’s theory: Orientalism as a European construct and the image of Circassians as constructed by the Russian Empire .................................................................................................5 Edward Said and Orientalism ....................................................................................................6 Application of Said’s theory to the fields of literature and history and Said’s limitations in his own work on Orientalism……………………………………………………………………..15 “Western” representations of the Orient in the literary studies……………………….15 Reconsideration of Europe’s textual representation of the foreign lands as part of colonial history………………………………………………………………………...18 Orientalism and Gender: Said’s
    [Show full text]
  • RUSSIAN & UKRAINIAN Russian & Ukrainian Symphonies and Orchestral Works
    RUSSIAN & UKRAINIAN Russian & Ukrainian Symphonies and Orchestral Works Occupying a vast land mass that has long been a melting pot of home-spun traditions and external influences, Russia’s history is deeply encrypted in the orchestral music to be found in this catalogue. Journeying from the Russian Empire through the Soviet era to the contemporary scene, the music of the Russian masters covers a huge canvas of richly coloured and immediately accessible works. Influences of folklore, orthodox liturgy, political brutality and human passion are all to be found in the listings. These range from 19th-century masterpieces penned by ‘The Mighty Five’ (Balakirev, Rimsky-Korsakov, Mussorgsky, Borodin, and Cui) to the edgy works of Prokofiev and Shostakovich that rubbed against the watchful eye of the Soviet authorities, culminating in the symphonic output of one of today’s most noted Russian composers, Alla Pavlova. Tchaikovsky wrote his orchestral works in a largely cosmopolitan style, leaving it to the band of brothers in The Mighty Five to fully shake off the Germanic influence that had long dominated their homeland’s musical scene. As part of this process, they imparted a thoroughly ethnic identity to their compositions. The titles of the works alone are enough to get the imaginative juices running, witness Borodin’s In the Steppes of Central Asia, Rimsky-Korsakov’s The Legend of the Invisible City of Kitezh, and Mussorgsky’s St John’s Night on the Bare Mountain. Supplementing the purely symphonic works, instrumental music from operas and ballets is also to be found in, for example, Prokofiev’sThe Love for Three Oranges Suite, Shostakovich’s four Ballet Suites, and Stravinsky’s Firebird Suite.
    [Show full text]
  • The Impact of Russian Music in England 1893-1929
    THE IMPACT OF RUSSIAN MUSIC IN ENGLAND 1893-1929 by GARETH JAMES THOMAS A thesis submitted to The University of Birmingham for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Department of Music School of Humanities The University of Birmingham March 2005 University of Birmingham Research Archive e-theses repository This unpublished thesis/dissertation is copyright of the author and/or third parties. The intellectual property rights of the author or third parties in respect of this work are as defined by The Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 or as modified by any successor legislation. Any use made of information contained in this thesis/dissertation must be in accordance with that legislation and must be properly acknowledged. Further distribution or reproduction in any format is prohibited without the permission of the copyright holder. ABSTRACT This thesis is an investigation into the reception of Russian music in England for the period 1893-1929 and the influence it had on English composers. Part I deals with the critical reception of Russian music in England in the cultural and political context of the period from the year of Tchaikovsky’s last successful visit to London in 1893 to the last season of Diaghilev’s Ballet russes in 1929. The broad theme examines how Russian music presented a challenge to the accepted aesthetic norms of the day and how this, combined with the contextual perceptions of Russia and Russian people, problematized the reception of Russian music, the result of which still informs some of our attitudes towards Russian composers today. Part II examines the influence that Russian music had on British composers of the period, specifically Stanford, Bantock, Vaughan Williams, Holst, Frank Bridge, Bax, Bliss and Walton.
    [Show full text]
  • EXPLORING ST. PETERSBURG a WORKSHOP for TEACHERS St
    EXPLORING ST. PETERSBURG A WORKSHOP FOR TEACHERS St. Petersburg: the historical context of its musical heritage Saturday, October 11, 2003 Lesson Plans by Carol Mohrlock Ann Arbor Public Schools Slauson Middle School [email protected] Music CD Sylvia Meloche and Yevgenia Kleyman For information on other teaching materials and workshops, Contact Sylvia M. Meloche Outreach Coordinator Center for Russian & East European Studies The University of Michigan 1080 S. University, Suite 4668 Ann Arbor MI 48104 tel: 734.647.4185 [email protected] http://www.umich.edu/~iinet/crees/ Table of Contents Introductory Lesson – What Do You Know? Map Work of Russia Peter the Great Peter the Great, Lesson from DiscoverySchool.com Evaluating Discrimination and Human Dignity Russia’s Climate and Folk Music Appreciation of Folk Music Reading about Musical Folk Instruments Getting to Know St. Petersburg Multiple Expressions of “Moscow Nights” Rhythm and Melodic Phrase in “Little Birch Tree” from www.teachervision.com Nineteenth-century Classical Music and St. Petersburg Vocabulary Activity Population and St. Petersburg A Look at Two Twentieth-century Russian Composers Additional Information Russian Music Discography Russian Cyrillic Alphabet with English Phonetic Sound Equivalents Russian Words Two Russian Recipes Introductory Lesson Title: What do you Know? Overview: This lesson is for students to think of: • what they already know of Russia • to share information about Russia in a small group setting • to have clarification on some of their questions • to learn some new facts about Russia Lesson Focus: • The 5 themes of Geography as they relate to Russia • Strand II of Geographic Perspective, “Students will use knowledge of spatial patterns on earth to understand processes that shape human environments to make decisions about society.” Materials: • overhead map of Russia • teacher created facts of Russia • paper What to Do: 1.
    [Show full text]
  • Osscs.Org Program Notes in June 1880, Tchaikovsky Received a Request for a Work “15 to 25 Minutes Long, with Or Without a Chorus
    War and Peace Saturday, October 3, 2015 • 7:30 PM First Free Methodist Church Orchestra Seattle Seattle Chamber Singers Clinton Smith, conductor GEORG FRIDERIC HANDEL (1685–1759) Music for the Royal Fireworks, HWV 351 Ouverture: Adagio — Allegro Bour´ee La Paix La R´ejouissance Menuet I Menuet II PYOTR ILYICH TCHAIKOVSKY (1840–1893) Festival Overture in E[ major (“The Year 1812”), Op. 49 Largo — Poco p`ıumosso — Andante — Allegro giusto — Largo — Allegro vivace —Intermission— RALPH VAUGHAN WILLIAMS (1872–1958) Dona Nobis Pacem “Agnus Dei” (Lento) “Beat! Beat! Drums!” (Allegro moderato) Reconciliation (Allegro moderato) Dirge for Two Veterans (Moderato alla marcia) “The Angel of Death Has Been Abroad” “O Man Greatly Beloved” Elizabeth Zharoff, soprano Joo Won Kang, baritone This performance of the Royal Fireworks Music commemorating the 25th anniversary of the reunification of Germany is presented in partnership with the Consulate General of the Federal Republic of Germany and the Honorary Consul of the Federal Republic of Germany. Please silence cell phones and other electronics, and refrain from the use of cameras and recording devices during the performance. Special thanks to First Free Methodist Church for all of their assistance in making OSSCS’s 46th season possible, and for providing refreshments during intermission. Donations left at the refreshments tables help support FFMC and its programs. Orchestra Seattle • Seattle Chamber Singers Clinton Smith, music director • George Shangrow, founder PO Box 15825, Seattle WA 98115 • 206-682-5208 • www.osscs.org Program Notes In June 1880, Tchaikovsky received a request for a work “15 to 25 minutes long, with or without a chorus .
    [Show full text]
  • Russian Symphonies and Orchestral Works
    Russian Symphonies and Orchestral Works Occupying a vast land mass that has long been a melting pot of home-spun traditions and external infl uences, russia’s history is deeply encrypted in the orchestral music to be found in this catalogue. Journeying from the russian empire through the soviet era to the contemporary scene, the music of the russian masters covers a huge canvas of richly coloured and immediately accessible works. Infl uences of folklore, orthodox liturgy, political brutality and human passion are all to be found in the listings, ranging from 19th-Century masterpieces from a representative sample of ‘the Mighty Five’ (Balakirev, rimsky-korsakov, Mussorgsky, Borodin, and cui) through to the edgy works of Prokofi ev and shostakovich that rubbed against stalin’s watchful eye, and right up to the symphonic output of one of today’s most noted russian composers, alla Pavlova. Tchaikovsky wrote his descriptive orchestral works and renowned in a largely cosmopolitan style, leaving it to the band of brothers in the Mighty Five to fully shake off the Germanic infl uence that had long dominated their homeland’s musical scene; as part of this process, they imparted a thoroughly ethnic identity to their compositions. the titles of the works alone are enough to get the imaginative juices turning, witness Borodin’s In the Steppes of Central Asia, rimsky-korsakov’s The Legend of the Invisible City of Kitezh, and Mussorgsky’s St John’s Night on the Bare Mountain. supplementing the purely symphonic works, instrumental music from operas and ballets is also to be found in, for example, Prokofi ev’s The Love for Three Oranges Suite, shostakovich’s Four Ballets Suites, and stravinsky’s Firebird Suite.
    [Show full text]
  • 1812 Overture Symphony No
    27 Season 2016-2017 Thursday, October 20, at 8:00 The Philadelphia Orchestra Friday, October 21, at 2:00 Saturday, October 22, at 8:00 Stéphane Denève Conductor Denis Kozhukhin Piano Tchaikovsky/ Andante cantabile, from String Quartet arr. Stokowski No. 1 in D major, Op. 11 First Philadelphia Orchestra performances of this arrangement Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 1 in B-flat minor, Op. 23 I. Allegro non troppo e molto maestoso— Allegro con spirito II. Andantino semplice——Prestissimo— Tempo I III. Allegro con fuoco Intermission Musorgsky/Boris Godunov: A Symphonic Synthesis arr. & orch. Stokowski Tchaikovsky Solemn Overture, 1812, Op. 49 This program runs approximately 2 hours. The October 20 concert is sponsored by Medcomp. The October 20 concert is sponsored by Jack and Ramona Vosbikian. The October 21 concert is sponsored by Constance Smukler. The October 22 concert is sponsored by a gift from the Estate of Edward B. Weinstein. Philadelphia Orchestra concerts are broadcast on WRTI 90.1 FM on Sunday afternoons at 1 PM. Visit WRTI.org to listen live or for more details. 28 The Philadelphia Orchestra Jessica Griffin The Philadelphia Orchestra Philadelphia is home and impact through Research. is one of the preeminent the Orchestra continues The Orchestra’s award- orchestras in the world, to discover new and winning Collaborative renowned for its distinctive inventive ways to nurture Learning programs engage sound, desired for its its relationship with its over 50,000 students, keen ability to capture the loyal patrons at its home families, and community hearts and imaginations of in the Kimmel Center, members through programs audiences, and admired for and also with those who such as PlayINs, side-by- a legacy of imagination and enjoy the Orchestra’s area sides, PopUP concerts, innovation on and off the performances at the Mann free Neighborhood concert stage.
    [Show full text]
  • TCHAIKOVSKY EDITION Liner Notes and Sung Texts
    TCHAIKOVSKY EDITION Liner notes and sung texts Liner notes A RICH, HUMANE LEGACY: THE MUSIC OF PYOTR ILYICH of Mozart’s spirit that he later paid homage in so many works TCHAIKOVSKY which turned out to be neo‐Classical avant la lettre. As Julian Barnes so elegantly demonstrated in his novel Flaubert’s Parrot, you can provide a number of selective, conflicting Even this is to limit the sheer encyclopaedic breadth of biographies around a great creative artist’s life, and any one of Tchaikovsky’s composing genius. He wrote in every medium them will be true. By those standards, one could counter Harold conceivable at the time, and if not every opus can possibly be at C. Schonberg’s thumbnail sketch of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky as ‘a his highest level of inspiration, there are masterpieces in each nervous, hypochondriacal, unhappy man – unhappy at home, genre: opera, song, symphonic music, occasion‐pieces (which unhappy away from home’, with a portrait of the composer as an includes the ‘1812 Overture’ – much‐maligned, but does what it older man: confident, healthy, a keen traveller, a generous spirit says on the tin), chamber works and choral settings of the who had come to terms with his demons even if they occasionally Russian Orthodox service, which it was then regarded as popped up to haunt him, and a lover of the Russian landscape pioneering to even attempt to promote. who was very much at peace with the natural beauty of the country surroundings he had chosen as his dwelling. His first fully fledged steps in composition contradict one perceived dichotomy: between his association with the Neither image is, of course, the whole story, and it is only slowly Germanically motivated founder‐brothers of Russia’s two that the public is learning, thanks to a wider retrospective on academic institutions – the St Petersburg Conservatoire founded Tchaikovsky’s genius in the round, to balance the tabloidised first by Anton Rubinstein in 1862, and its Moscow counterpart portrait with the less sensationalised second.
    [Show full text]
  • 570034Bk Hasse
    TCHAIKOVSKY The Queen of Spades • Voyevoda Orchestral Suites (arr. Peter Breiner) New Zealand Symphony Orchestra • Peter Breiner Pyotr Ilʼyich Tchaikovsky (1840–1893) and the concluding chorus, praying for his soul. 7 Elements convention. Mariya rushes in, after an encounter in the The Queen of Spades • Voyevoda (Orchestral Suites arranged by Peter Breiner) of the end of the first act, with its love scene in Lisaʼs room, bushes with the Jester, who has left the company when no when she admits to Hermann her love for him, form the final drink came his way. The Voyevoda immediately finds her It is possibly for reasons of language that only two of their meeting interrupted by the Countess telling Lisa to go orchestral arrangement. more acceptable as a wife than her sister, and Dyuzhoy Tchaikovskyʼs operas have found a continuing place in to bed. The first of Tchaikovskyʼs operas was Voyevoda (The agrees to allow him to marry her. When they have all gone, international operatic repertoire. Yevgeny Onegin (Eugene The second act is set at a ball. Yeletsky sings to Lisa of Provincial Governor), based on Ostrovskyʼs comedy Son na Bastryukov emerges and, betrayed by the Jester, is only Onegin) and Pikovaya Dama (The Queen of Spades), both his love for her. Hermann is teased by his friends, who Volge (A Volga Dream), written in 1867-68, its libretto protected from arrest by his servants. The act ends with all based on Pushkin, are more or less familiar to international suggest that he will be the third man, the one to learn the originally the work of Ostrovsky and the composer, until determined to achieve their own aims.
    [Show full text]