IN the LONG SHADOW of REVOLUTION Stravinsky, Prokofiev, Rimsky-Korsakov, Rachmaninov & Shostakovich
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IN THE LONG SHADOW OF REVOLUTION Stravinsky, Prokofiev, Rimsky-Korsakov, Rachmaninov & Shostakovich Mariinsky Orchestra returns to the UK: BBC Proms – 3 September Cadogan Hall - 8 & 9 October Royal Welsh College of Music and Dance, Cardiff - 10 October Belfast Festival – 11 October Symphony Hall, Birmingham - 12 October ’Valery Gergiev is a born Prokofiev interpreter’ (Guardian) The Mariinsky Orchestra returns to the UK for a series of concerts at the BBC Proms, Cadogan Hall, Birmingham and Belfast with music of Stravinsky, Prokofiev, Rachmaninov and Shostakovich composed in the shadow of the Russian Revolution, now 100 years ago. At Cadogan Hall on 8 and 9 October, Valery Gergiev presents a programme in which he couples the music of Stravinsky with that of his teacher and mentor, Rimsky-Korsakov. At Edinburgh Festival on 23 August, Valery Gergiev conducted the combined forces of the Mariinsky and RSNO in Shostakovich’s Symphony No 4 on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the European premiere in 1961 at the festival. At the Proms on 3 September, Gergiev will conduct Shostakovich’s 5th Symphony alongside Prokofiev’s Cantata for the 20th Anniversary of the October Revolution. Both works were composed in 1937 but Prokofiev withheld the Cantata fearing official displeasure and it was never performed in his lifetime. The 10-movement cantata finally received its premiere in 1966. The Mariinsky is joined at their Prom Concert by pianist Denis Matsuev for Tchaikovsky’s 3rd Piano Concerto. Last year, Gergiev and the Mariinsky Orchestra celebrated the 125th anniversary of Prokofiev’s birth with what is likely to be the greatest concentration of Prokofiev’s works ever played within such a short span of time. This year for their annual residency at Cadogan Hall they shall be celebrating 135 years since the birth of Igor Stravinsky with a programme of some of his greatest works, set against those by his mentor and friend, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. In 1902 Stravinsky showed some of his early pieces to the composer Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (whose son Vladimir was a fellow law student), who was sufficiently impressed and agreed to take Stravinsky as a private pupil, while at the same time advising him not to enter the conservatory for conventional academic training. Rimsky-Korsakov tutored Stravinsky mainly in orchestration and acted as the budding composer’s mentor, discussing each new work and offering suggestions. Both Cadogan Hall programmes end with key works linked to ballet. Stravinsky’s sparkling score for The Firebird was a huge success for Diaghilev and the Ballets Russes, whilst Rimsky Korsakov’s Scheherazade was also adapted into a ballet in 1910 by choreographer Michael Fokine. Following his success last year with both Prokofiev concerti, Baráti returns to perform with the Mariinsky for Stravinsky’s Violin Concerto in D. This concerto was almost never written, as Stravinsky showed some reluctance to the commission, claiming he did not know the instrument well enough. He was soon convinced otherwise by fellow composer Paul Hindemith. Violinist Kristóf Baráti is held in the highest esteem by conductors such as Dutoit, Saraste and Janowski, and he has performed with Gergiev and his Mariinsky Orchestra on numerous occasions. In 2012 he joined them for Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto and in 2015 for a concert including Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto and Saint-Saëns Introduction rondo capriccioso. Hailed as one of Hungary’s foremost artists, Baráti was awarded the prestigious Kossuth Prize in 2014 following in the footsteps of artists such as Iván Fischer and András Schiff. On 10 October the Mariinsky Stradivarius Ensemble will give a concert of Stravinsky, Shostakovich and Tchaikovsky in the Dora Stoutzker Hall of the Royal Welsh College of Music and Dance in Cardiff. This will be preceded by masterclasses with the students of the RWCMD who will also attend the rehearsal. On 11 October Valery Gergiev and the Mariinsky Orchestra return to the Belfast International Festival in a concert supported by Titanic Belfast. The first half of the concert in the Ulster Hall is devoted to operatic works based on poems by Alexander Pushkin: the Waltz and Polonaise from Eugene Onegin and the Suite from The Tale of Tsar Saltan. These are followed by Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 11 The Year 1905, an almost film-like score that evokes the Mariinsky’s home city of city of St Petersburg and the events of Bloody Sunday in the 1905 Russian revolution. Shostakovich described this work as his “most Mussorgskian” symphony, reflecting on the suffering of the people and lamenting the fate of a whole generation. In Birmingham, the Mariinsky Orchestra presents a programme including Rachmaninov’s last composition the Symphonic Dances, which echoes Rimsky Korsakov’s Golden Cockerel, the only score that Rachmaninov took out of Russia when he left in 1917. The programme also includes Denis Matsuev performing Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No.2 for the first time in the UK. This concerto was originally written in 1913 but was lost in the Revolution and reconstructed by the composer in 1923 to be premiered in Paris. "the Mariinsky is today enjoying some of its finest hours under Gergiev." Financial Times the togetherness of the players is superb: when there’s a lilt, their music sways as one; the ebb and flow is pin sharp, when they scurry, they are scurrying precisely in time. Bachtrack about performance of The Firebird by Stravinsky "Throughout the evening it was of the highest standards in all departments, and it responded alertly to Gergiev's inspiring direction." Seen and Heard International about the Prokofiev Cycle MARIINSKY TRUST UK 23 August - Edinburgh International Festival PROKOFIEV Symphony No. 1 in D ‘Classical’ – Mariinsky Orchestra BRITTEN Variations on a Theme by Frank Bridge - Royal Scottish National Orchestra SHOSTAKOVICH Symphony No. 4 - Mariinsky & RSNO (70th anniversary of the European premiere of Shostakovich’s 4th Symphony in 1961 at EIF) 3 September - BBC Proms PROKOFIEV Cantata for the 20th Anniversary of the October Revolution TCHAIKOVSKY Piano Concerto No. 3 SHOSTAKOVICH Symphony No. 5 Mariinsky Chorus and Orchestra Denis Matsuev, piano Valery Gergiev, conductor Supported by BP 8 October - Cadogan Hall, London RIMSKY-KORSAKOV Suite from Golden Cockerel STRAVINSKY Symphony in C RIMSKY-KORSAKOV Scheherazade Mariinsky Orchestra, Valery Gergiev, conductor Supported by BP 9 October – Cadogan Hall, London STRAVINSKY Concerto in D (for string orchestra) RIMSKY-KORSAKOV Suite from The Tale of Tsar Saltan STRAVINSKY Violin Concerto in D STRAVINSKY Suite from Firebird (1945) Mariinsky Orchestra Kristóf Baráti, violin Valery Gergiev, conductor Supported by BP 10 October - Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama Dora Stoutzker Hall, Cardiff Shostakovich Chamber Symphony Stravinsky Concerto in D Tchaikovsky Serenade for Strings Mariinsky Stradivarius Ensemble, Valery Gergiev, conductor 11 October 7.30pm - Belfast International Arts Festival - Ulster Hall TCHAIKOVSKY Waltz and Polonaise from Eugen Onegin RIMSKY-KORSAKOV Suite from The Tale of Tsar Saltan PROKOFIEV Piano Concerto No. 2 SHOSTAKOVICH Symphony No 11 The Year 1905 Mariinsky Orchestra, Valery Gergiev, conductor Supported by Titanic Belfast 12 October 7.30pm – Symphony Hall - Birmingham RIMSKY-KORSAKOV Suite from The Golden Cockerel PROKOFIEV Piano Concerto No. 2 RACHMANINOV Symphonic Dances Op.45 Mariinsky Orchestra Denis Matsuev, piano Valery Gergiev, conductor NOTES TO EDITORS About Valery Gergiev Valery Gergiev became Music Director of the Mariinsky in 1988, when he was 35 years old. His tenure has brought universal acclaim to the already legendary Mariinsky Theatre by showcasing the talent of the Mariinsky Opera, Orchestra, Ballet and Chorus in more than 45 countries. Maestro Gergiev has worked tirelessly to bring previously neglected parts of the Russian canon to the West, as an ambassador for early- and late-career works by Prokofiev such as The Gambler and War and Peace, which have since been welcomed into the standard repertoire. Throughout his career, Maestro Gergiev has helped young artists and developed rising talents, including world-renowned singers Anna Netrebko, Olga Borodina, Dmitri Hvorostovsky and Mikhail Petrenko, instrumentalists Maxim Vengerov, Vadim Repin, Leonidas Kavakos, Evgeny Kissin, Denis Matsuev and Daniil Trifonov and dancers Diana Vishneva, Yekaterina Kondaurova and Ulyana Lopatkina. Most recently he served as Co-Chair of the 2015 Tchaikovsky Competition, which was lauded internationally for the high level of performance, judging and transparency that it set. Among the milestones of Maestro Gergiev’s leadership of the Mariinsky have been the inception of the ‘Stars of the White Nights’ Festival in 1993, the opening of the Concert Hall of the Mariinsky Theatre in 2006, the inauguration of the Mariinsky Label in 2009, and the opening of the new state-of-the-art opera house Mariinsky II in 2013. About the Mariinsky Orchestra The Mariinsky Orchestra enjoys a long and distinguished history as one of the oldest musical institutions in Russia. Founded in the 18th century and housed in St Petersburg’s famed Mariinsky Theatre since 1860, the Orchestra entered its “golden age” in the second half of the 19th-century under the musical direction of Eduard Napravnik, whose leadership for more than a half-century (1863-1916) secured its reputation as one of the finest in Europe. Legendary artists who conducted the Mariinsky Orchestra and praised its outstanding musicianship