CONCERTS

Shostakovich

Suite, The Gadfly

Weinberg

Cello Concerto

Sibelius

Symphony No.4

Vasily Petrenko

conductor

Jonathan Aasgaard

cello

Say what you like about Shostakovich, but he knew how to write a good tune! His delightful music for The Gadfly is a favourite on Classic FM, but today, it’s the starting point for a journey of musical discovery, as Vasily Petrenko and the Orchestra’s principal cello, Jonathan Aasgaard, perform the haunting Cello Concerto by Mieczysław Weinberg, who would have been 100 this year. Shostakovich was a fan – and we think you’ll hear why. Then we travel into the dark, icy world of Sibelius’s powerful Fourth Symphony: a true Nordic thriller, as personal as it is gripping.

Grieg

Peer Gynt, Suite No.1

Beethoven

Piano Concerto No.3

Sibelius

Symphony No.4

Vasily Petrenko

conductor

Beatrice Rana

piano

Sibelius was a man of extremes, but then, so was Ludwig van Beethoven. Beethoven never wrote a darker piano concerto than his Third, but it’s also one of his most intimate, and there’s no better showcase for both the brilliance and the wit of the outstanding young Italian pianist Beatrice Rana as she makes her Liverpool debut. As for Sibelius – well, some would say that his Fourth Symphony is his darkest, but it might just be his greatest. Vasily Petrenko uncovers its secrets today; a striking contrast to the melodies of Grieg’s Peer Gynt.

Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov Scheherazade

Vasily Petrenko conductor

No one mastered the art of orchestration better than the Russian composer Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov.

Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (1844−1908) wrote a well-known book on the theory of orchestration, and composed music with extraordinarily rich, well-balanced and confident use of sound. Aside from mastering his craft, he had additional, and perhaps more important, abilities, such as that of selecting sound colours, harmonies and melodies in order to describe a narrative, or to capture a character or a mood. His greatest success was the music to the story of Scheherazade from the collection of stories “One Thousand and One Nights”. This symphonic suite was composed and premiered in 1888 with the composer himself conducting, and remains his most acclaimed composition.

Scheherazade consists of four movements: The Sea and Sinbad’s Ship, The Kalendar Prince, The Young Prince and The Young Princess, The Festival at Baghdad. The Sea. The Ship Breaks against a Cliff Surmounted by a Bronze Horseman. The violent trombone theme, often associated with the evil sultan, is introduced already in the opening, and Scheherazade’s beautiful theme is played by a solo violin − an arabesque melody with oriental-inspired ornaments which coils itself around us, casting a spell on both the sultan and the listener. Even though the Orientalism of the 1800s might not feel relevant today,  the music creates a vivid fantasy, sending us off on a flying carpet while evoking the timeless, universal world of the fairy tale.

Johannes Brahms Piano Concerto No. 2

Jean Sibelius Symphony No. 5

Vasily Petrenko conductor

Simon Trpceski piano

A swan hymn and a mighty piano work.

In Jean Sibelius’ fifth symphony, we can almost imagine the whole orchestra being elevated to a higher plane when the “Swan Hymn” lifts the music out of the Finnish forests and into infinity. This concert programme puts the spotlight on the horns: a horn introduces Sibelius’ famous symphony, as well as the Swan Hymn in the finale. With their lyrical melody, the horns also feature prominently in the introduction of one of the great piano concertos of our time. Although Brahms’second piano concerto can be said to be more symphonic than virtuosic, Simon Trpceski will have ample opportunity to demonstrate his outstanding technique to the fullest as he navigates the composer’s overwhelming waves of sound.

“Good God, what beauty”, wrote Jean Sibelius (1865−1957) in his journal when sixteen swans circled over him one spring day in 1915, and he was inspired to write the horn theme from the finale of Symphony No. 5 (1919). Nature inspired Sibelius, but his final works seem to be expressions of the universal and the infinite, elevated above any imitation or wordly inspiration. Symphony No. 5 is arguably one of his most perfectly formed masterpieces in this sense: already from the pastoral idyll of the opening, all melodic and harmonic ideas lead to the “Swan Hymn” and the famous concluding salutes where time seems to stand still for a moment. The concept of symphonic unity and what he himself described as “deep logic” was important to the composer, who strived for a concentrated and powerful expression, but also desired variation and innovation in terms of sound and texture in the process of creating this. Since its very first performance in Helsinki in 1919, Sibelius’ fifth symphony has counted among Sibelius’ most often performed works and constitutes a highlight of Nordic musical history.

Another composer who was concerned with symphonic unity and deep logic was Johannes Brahms (1833−1897). He therefore imbued his solo concertos with symphonic proportions, form types and weight, and not only mere virtuosity. With its four massive movements, his second piano concerto counts among the real heavyweights in the classical repertoire and is notorious among pianists. Although many call it a symphony with piano, the soloist is immediately cast out into technical challenges, such as the cadenza, which starts only a few bars after the first movement. Behind the mighty facade, Brahms’ second piano concerto is varied in terms of both expression and character. Listen to the cello solo, for instance, which gently strokes you across the cheek in the third movement, and which Brahms later made into the song Immer leiser wird mein Schlummer (My slumber is growing ever softer) or the dancing Hungarian rhythms in the graceful final movement. The latter was particularly well-received when the work received its world premiere in Budapest in 1881, with Brahms himself as the soloist.

Johannes Brahms Piano Concerto No. 2

Jean Sibelius Symphony No. 5

Vasily Petrenko conductor

Simon Trpceski piano

A swan hymn and a mighty piano work.

In Jean Sibelius’ fifth symphony, we can almost imagine the whole orchestra being elevated to a higher plane when the “Swan Hymn” lifts the music out of the Finnish forests and into infinity. This concert programme puts the spotlight on the horns: a horn introduces Sibelius’ famous symphony, as well as the Swan Hymn in the finale. With their lyrical melody, the horns also feature prominently in the introduction of one of the great piano concertos of our time. Although Brahms’second piano concerto can be said to be more symphonic than virtuosic, Simon Trpceski will have ample opportunity to demonstrate his outstanding technique to the fullest as he navigates the composer’s overwhelming waves of sound.

“Good God, what beauty”, wrote Jean Sibelius (1865−1957) in his journal when sixteen swans circled over him one spring day in 1915, and he was inspired to write the horn theme from the finale of Symphony No. 5 (1919). Nature inspired Sibelius, but his final works seem to be expressions of the universal and the infinite, elevated above any imitation or wordly inspiration. Symphony No. 5 is arguably one of his most perfectly formed masterpieces in this sense: already from the pastoral idyll of the opening, all melodic and harmonic ideas lead to the “Swan Hymn” and the famous concluding salutes where time seems to stand still for a moment. The concept of symphonic unity and what he himself described as “deep logic” was important to the composer, who strived for a concentrated and powerful expression, but also desired variation and innovation in terms of sound and texture in the process of creating this. Since its very first performance in Helsinki in 1919, Sibelius’ fifth symphony has counted among Sibelius’ most often performed works and constitutes a highlight of Nordic musical history.

Another composer who was concerned with symphonic unity and deep logic was Johannes Brahms (1833−1897). He therefore imbued his solo concertos with symphonic proportions, form types and weight, and not only mere virtuosity. With its four massive movements, his second piano concerto counts among the real heavyweights in the classical repertoire and is notorious among pianists. Although many call it a symphony with piano, the soloist is immediately cast out into technical challenges, such as the cadenza, which starts only a few bars after the first movement. Behind the mighty facade, Brahms’ second piano concerto is varied in terms of both expression and character. Listen to the cello solo, for instance, which gently strokes you across the cheek in the third movement, and which Brahms later made into the song Immer leiser wird mein Schlummer (My slumber is growing ever softer) or the dancing Hungarian rhythms in the graceful final movement. The latter was particularly well-received when the work received its world premiere in Budapest in 1881, with Brahms himself as the soloist.

In the last major work of his life, Prokofiev filled his Seventh Symphony with music of disarming innocence and simplicity. He began composing it for a children’s radio program, and even as it expanded into a full-throated symphony it retained a childlike sense of wonder. Sibelius, the proud son of Finland, channeled his austere Nordic sensibilities into his Violin Concerto, which spans from an icy tremble to a pounding dance once dubbed the “polonaise for polar bears.” Don’t miss the return of violinist Aleksey Semenenko, who “played with deep sensitivity and chamber-like focus” in his last Seattle Symphony appearance (The Seattle Times).

In the last major work of his life, Prokofiev filled his Seventh Symphony with music of disarming innocence and simplicity. He began composing it for a children’s radio program, and even as it expanded into a full-throated symphony it retained a childlike sense of wonder. Sibelius, the proud son of Finland, channeled his austere Nordic sensibilities into his Violin Concerto, which spans from an icy tremble to a pounding dance once dubbed the “polonaise for polar bears.” Don’t miss the return of violinist Aleksey Semenenko, who “played with deep sensitivity and chamber-like focus” in his last Seattle Symphony appearance (The Seattle Times).

Sergei RachmaninoffPiano Concerto No. 3

Vasily Petrenko conductor

Nikolai Lugansky piano

An ominous mood looms over the orchestra as the piano plays the principal theme at the beginning of Piano Concerto No. 3.

The theme is a captivatingly simple one, with what many would describe as a Russian colour. But don’t be fooled. What follows is no ordinary Romantic solo concerto, but one of the most breakneck journeys a pianist can undertake. Many who harbour the ambition of performing this glorious milestone of a concerto have stumbled in the technical nightmare which awaits them. After the theme’s introduction, the soloist is cast out into a frenzied pursuit, confronting colossal chords stretching fingers to their limits, and passages of incredible rhythmical complexity. And if you are impressed by the technical difficulties of the first movement, just wait for the finale …

Rachmaninov was one of the most famous pianists of his time, and was the soloist during the world premiere of his third piano concerto in New York in 1909.

Pyotr Tchaikovsky Romeo and Juliet

Sergei RachmaninoffPiano Concerto No. 3

Sergei Rachmaninoff Symphony No. 1

Vasily Petrenko conductor

Nikolai Lugansky piano

Music by Russian composers Pyotr Tchaikovsky and Sergei Rachmaninoff.

Anticipate heady Russian Romanticism as Vasily Petrenko and his countryman Nikolai Lugansky present Rachmaninov’s legendary third piano concerto. While the soloist must make furious efforts to perform this virtuoso piece, audiences are at liberty to fall into the embrace of Rachmaninov’s ravishing harmonies and rich sound. Tchaikovsky’s incandescent orchestral fantasy about the tale of Romeo and Juliet is equally rich in content. Rachmaninov’s Symphony No. 1 concludes the programme, a work critics once claimed should belong in hell (!), but which in recent decades has been performed in concert halls around the world with increasing regularity.

William Shakespeare’s timeless drama about the star-crossed lovers appealed urgently to the Russian composer Peter Tchaikovsky (1840−1893). He found a resonance in his own hopeless love life, and conjured up generous amounts of memorable music to Shakespeare’s dramatic tale. This orchestral fantasy brings together his abilities to produce powerful music for both the ballet and for symphony orchestra, bestowing upon the listener one of his most passionate love scenes and his own dramatic musical expression of the greatest love story of all time.

Like Tchaikovsky, Sergei Rachmaninov’s (1873−1943) life and career was also characterised by extremes. When his first symphony was premiered in St. Petersburg in 1897, it was damned by critics. “If there were a conservatory in Hell, and if one of its talented students were asked to compose a programmatic symphony about the ten plagues of Egypt, and had written a symphony like Mr. Rachmaninov’s, this would have been considered an expert execution of the task, bringing joy to the inhabitants of Hell. For us, however, the music bears an expression of evil.” raged Cesar Cui.

Cui’s criticism is difficult to understand when one listens to Rachmaninov’s ambitious and dramatic symphony. The work has a Russian sound, and opens with a dramatic theme which is often associated with fate, especially when it returns in the last movement, after developing into a battle of life and death. Also part of the story is that the world premiere took place after a scandalouly short rehearsal period, with a conductor who was totally uninterested in the work, and possibly even intoxicated. In any case, it sent the composer into a long period of depression, and he concealed the work for many years. Only after the second world war was the work performed again, this time in Moscow, and it has over the years found its place in standard orchestral repertoire.

Doctor Nikolai Dahl’s hypnotherapy eventually helped Rachmaninov recover from his depression, after which he wrote the works which have granted him a permanent place in musical history: his second and third piano concertos. Rachmaninov was one of the most famous pianists of his time, and was the soloist during the world premiere of his third piano concerto in New York in 1909.

An ominous mood looms over the orchestra as the piano plays the principal theme at the beginning of Piano Concerto No. 3. The theme is a captivatingly simple one, with what many would describe as a Russian colour. But don’t be fooled. What follows is no ordinary Romantic solo concerto, but one of the most breakneck journeys a pianist can undertake. Many who harbour the ambition of performing this glorious milestone of a concerto have stumbled in the technical nightmare which awaits them. After the theme’s introduction, the soloist is cast out into a frenzied pursuit, confronting colossal chords stretching fingers to their limits, and passages of incredible rhythmical complexity. And if you are impressed by the technical difficulties of the first movement, just wait for the finale …

Kilden Kultur presenterer: Oslo-Filharmonien

Vasily Petrenko, dirigent
Nikolai Luganskij, klaver

Program:
Delius On Hearing the First Cuckoo in Spring

Grieg Klaverkonsert

Rachmaninoff Symfoni nr.1

Delius: On hearing the First Cuckoo in Spring

Fedrick Delius (1862-1934) var en nær venn av Edvard Grieg og oppholdt seg mye i Norge. On hearing the First Cuckoo in Spring er at av hans vakreste orkesterverk og er basert på folketonen Ola-Tjedn-låtten fra Valdres.

Grieg: Klaverkonsert
Den dramatiske paukevirvelen som leder fra stillheten til den gnistrende musikken i Edvard Griegs (1843-1907) Pianokonsert er en av de mest virkningsfulle og berømte musikalske åpningene som finnes. Med dette smellet banet Grieg seg vei ut i Europa og inn i musikkhistorien, og den unge komponistens fingeravtrykk kunne knapt vært tydeligere. Fra første tone spiller solisten «Griegs ledemotiv», en musikalsk signatur inspirert av melodiske vendinger i norsk folkemusikk. Den klareste forbindelse til tradisjonsmusikken er likevel hallingrytmene i tredje sats. Før finalen fyker av sted viser Grieg en annen av sine styrker: den lyriske melodikken, stemningsskapende harmonikken og inderligheten i Adagio-satsen.

Det er lett å se for seg fjord og fjell når Griegs «a-moll» tindrer i ørene, men selv så komponisten et helt annet landskap da han skrev verket i unorske Søllerød i Danmark. Også musikalsk hentet Grieg inspirasjon fra andre steder. Konserten har mange likhetstrekk med Schumanns Klaverkonsert i a-moll (1845) som Grieg hadde hørt som ung student i Leipzig. Like fullt har Griegs konsert blitt en bærebjelke i norsk musikkarv og en av verdens mest berømte solokonserter. Det har den vært siden Edmund Neupert urfremførte den i København i 1869, siden legenden Franz Liszt spilte den begeistret rett fra bladet i Roma i 1870, og siden den ble tidenes første pianokonsert som ble spilt inn på plate, av Wilhelm Backhaus i 1909.

Rachmaninoff: Symfoni nr. 1
Sergej Rachmaninoffs (1873-1943) liv og karriere var preget av ekstremer. Da hans Symfoni nr. 1 ble urfremført i St. Petersburg i 1897, ble den slaktet av kritikerne. ‘Hvis det var et konservatorium i Helvete, og hvis en av dets talentfulle studenter skulle komponere en programsymfoni over de ti landeplagene i Egypt, og hvis han hadde skrevet en symfoni som Hr. Rachmaninoffs, da ville han ha utført oppgaven glimrende og ville glede innbyggerne i Helvete. For oss gir musikken et ondskapsfullt inntrykk…’, raste Cesar Cui.
Cuis slakt er vanskelig å forstå når man lytter til Rachmaninoffs ambisiøse og dramatiske Symfoni nr. 1. Symfonien har russisk klangbunn og åpner med et dramatisk tema som gjerne assosieres med skjebnen, særlig når det kommer tilbake i siste sats og musikken har utviklet seg til å bli en kamp på liv og død. Det hører også med til historien at urfremføringen foregikk etter skandaløst kort øvetid og med en dirigent som, i beste fall, var lite interessert og, i verste fall, full. I alle tilfeller gikk Rachmaninoff inn i en lang depresjon og gjemte verket i mange år. Først etter andre verdenskrig ble symfonien fremført igjen i Moskva og har gradvis blitt tatt inn på orkestrenes repertoar.

Varighet 2 timer med pause.

Vasily Petrenko  conductor
Nikolai Lugansky piano

Tchaikovsky  Fantasy Overture: Romeo and Juliet
Rachmaninov  Piano Concerto No. 3
Sibelius  Symphony No. 5

For this special event in our 2018-2019 season we welcome back the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra after a break of over a quarter of a century. They bring with them their inspirational Chief Conductor and a programme that blends Russian passion with Nordic atmosphere, beginning with Tchaikovsky’s famous Fantasy Overture, Romeo and Juliet. The soaring lyricism of its central love theme remains one of classical music’s best loved moments. Rachmaninov performed his Third Piano concerto as part of his first tour of the United States in 1909. Loved by audiences for its waves of epic melody and exhilarating shifts of gear, it also sends shivers down the spine of many a concert pianist for its daunting technical demands. Picking up the gauntlet is the acclaimed Russian virtuoso Nikolai Lugansky, making his Nottingham debut. Sibelius’s Fifth Symphony inhabits a very different sound world. Its clean lines and etched rhythms succeed in creating real sweep and grandeur, building from hushed daybreak to a visionary hymn-like finale, inspired by witnessing a flight of swans ascending into a radiant solar haze.

Falla

Suite, The Three Cornered Hat

Rodrigo

Concierto de Aranjuez for guitar and orchestra

Rimsky-Korsakov

Shéhérazade

Vasily Petrenko

conductor

Sean Shibe

guitar

A cruel sultan, a beautiful princess and a thousand and one nights of pleasure: Rimsky-Korsakov’s Shéhérazade might sound like a box of Turkish delight, but make no mistake: it’s one of classical music’s wickedest treats. So let Vasily Petrenko sweep you away to a world of sensuous excess, from the Spanish perfumes of Manuel de Falla’s Three Cornered Hat to the Spanish rhythms of the famous Rodrigo Guitar concerto.

Louis Gottschalk

Symphony No.1, A Night in the Tropics

Claudia Montero

Vientos del Sur (Winds of the South): Concerto for Piano Accordion and Orchestra (world premiere)

Rimsky-Korsakov

Shéhérazade

Vasily Petrenko

conductor

Ksenija Sidorova

accordion

Hold tight: it’s not every concert that starts with a samba and ends with a shipwreck! But when Louis Gottschalk wrote his First Symphony in 1857, he gave its finale an unmistakably Latin shimmy and the first ever orchestral samba. Far away in Russia, meanwhile, Rimsky-Korsakov dreamt of the Arabian Nights – and his sumptuous musical fairytale Shéhérazade never gets any less thrilling. In between – well, let’s just say that if you heard the phenomenal Ksenija Sidorova at our 2016 Christmas concerts, the opportunity to hear her in the dance rhythms of this brand new concerto by Argentinean composer Claudia Montero will be pretty much unmissable.

Rachmaninov

Isle of the Dead

Elgar

Sea Pictures

Beethoven

Symphony No.3 Eroica

Vasily Petrenko

conductor

Kathryn Rudge

mezzo-soprano

As a Russian, Vasily Petrenko has Rachmaninov in his blood. As an adopted Scouser, he’s learned to get under the skin of Elgar. And when he conducts Beethoven – well, in the words of one critic, it’s ‘explosive’. So enjoy a whole evening of Petrenko and his Orchestra doing what they do best, whether exploring the deep romantic twilight of Rachmaninov’s Isle of the Dead, or detonating the full revolutionary force of Beethoven’s world-changing symphony. We’re also delighted to welcome back the award-winning Liverpudlian mezzo-soprano Kathryn Rudge, bringing all her sense of theatre to Elgar’s startlingly passionate songs.

Rachmaninov

Isle of the Dead

Elgar

Sea Pictures

Beethoven

Symphony No.3 Eroica

Vasily Petrenko

conductor

Kathryn Rudge

mezzo-soprano

As a Russian, Vasily Petrenko has Rachmaninov in his blood. As an adopted Scouser, he’s learned to get under the skin of Elgar. And when he conducts Beethoven – well, in the words of one critic, it’s ‘explosive’. So enjoy a whole evening of Petrenko and his Orchestra doing what they do best, whether exploring the deep romantic twilight of Rachmaninov’s Isle of the Dead, or detonating the full revolutionary force of Beethoven’s world-changing symphony. We’re also delighted to welcome back the award-winning Liverpudlian mezzo-soprano Kathryn Rudge, bringing all her sense of theatre to Elgar’s startlingly passionate songs.

7:30 PM,  ROYAL FESTIVAL HALL, LONDON

Khachaturian Adagio of Spartacus and Phrygia
Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 1
Walton Symphony No. 1

Vasily Petrenko conductor
George Li piano
London Philharmonic Orchestra

Richard Strauss An Alpine Symphony

Venture up the steepest symphonic peaks with the Oslo Philharmonic and Vasily Petrenko in Strauss’ spectacular Alpine Symphony.

“At least I have learned how to orchestrate”, pronounced Richard Strauss (1864−1949) laconically during the dress rehearsal for the world premiere of his Alpine Symphony in Berlin in 1915. Few composers have mastered all the nooks and crannies of orchestration better than namely Strauss. The abililty to portray characters, events, or feelings so precisely and in such a detailed manner stood the composer in good stead when writing his tone poems and his operas.

An Alpine Symphony starts in the dark of night, with a deep carpet of sound which slowly spreads across the orchestra before the brass instruments remind us of the steep climb awaiting us. As soon as the sun rises, we sling on our rucksacks and start the ascent. On the way we hear cowbells and birdsong, while the fresh mountain air fills our ears, but ahead lies not only pastoral idyll and wondrous views, but also terrifying glaciers, traitorous mists and even a veritable mountain tempest. Strauss’ hike across the peaks is not for delicate souls, but as long as you hold on tight, you’ll be off on an unforgettable musical journey.

Antonín Dvořák Cello Concerto

Richard Strauss An Alpine Symphony

Vasily Petrenko conductor

Johannes Moser cello

Venture up the steepest symphonic peaks with the Oslo Philharmonic and Vasily Petrenko in Strauss’spectacular Alpine Symphony.

Strauss explored how expressively and in what great detail a symphony orchestra was capable of evoking a hike in the alps. The music follows the mountain climb minute for minute, from sunrise to sunset, and through it we can hear the sounds of nature, of alpine experiences, and of the elevated human spirit resonate fully. In addition to this, Johannes Moser leads us into a different world of fantasy, with Dvorak’s lyrical and wonderfully rich Cello Concerto.

“At least I have learned how to orchestrate”, pronounced Richard Strauss (1864−1949) laconically during the dress rehearsal for the world premiere of his Alpine Symphony in Berlin in 1915. Few composers have mastered all the nooks and crannies of orchestration better than namely Strauss. The abililty to portray characters, events, or feelings so precisely and in such a detailed manner stood the composer in good stead when writing his tone poems and his operas. Alpine Symphony starts in the dark of night, with a deep carpet of sound which slowly spreads across the orchestra before the brass instruments remind us of the steep climb awaiting us. As soon as the sun rises, we sling on our rucksacks and start the ascent. On the way we hear cowbells and birdsong, while the fresh mountain air fills our ears, but ahead lies not only pastoral idyll and wondrous views, but also terrifying glaciers, traitorous mists and even a veritable mountain tempest. Strauss’ hike across the peaks is not for delicate souls, but as long as you hold on tight, you’ll be off on an unforgettable musical journey.

Since its world premiere in London in 1896, Antonin Dvorak’s (1841−1904) Cello Concerto has represented for cellists what Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto represents for violinists; namely the one, great, Romantic solo concerto from the 19th century which every musician simply must play. Already from the first bars, the composer demonstrates his craftsmanship brilliantly, as he does his rich multitude of ideas and his ability to conjure up one long, sustained, beautiful melody after the other. Musicologist Donald Tovey has described the side theme as “one of the most beautiful passages ever written for horn” and which the composer himself described as one of his favourite melodies. When the soloist eventually enters, every tone and every line is scrupulously well prepared for his instrument. Tonight, German-Canadian cellist Johannes Moser will bath us in Dvorak’s luxurious cello sound, showcasing his own eminent virtuosity and musicality to our Oslo audience.

Mendelssohn

Overture, The Hebrides

Bruch

Scottish Fantasy

Zemlinsky

The Mermaid

Vasily Petrenko

conductor

Noa Wildschut

violin

Once upon a time… Felix Mendelssohn took a boat trip to the Hebrides, and heard the waves singing a timeless song. Max Bruch came to Liverpool – but imagined he was in the Scottish Highlands. And Alexander von Zemlinsky turned from the glitter of imperial Vienna to retell the heart-rending tale of the Little Mermaid, in music that anyone who enjoys Mahler or Strauss will simply love. Vasily Petrenko retells these three magical stories today, and joins the 18-year-old rising star violinist Noa Wildschut in the gloriously tuneful Fantasy that Bruch wrote for us, here in Liverpool, back in 1881!

Schubert

Extracts from Rosamunde

Beethoven

Piano Concerto No.1

Strauss

Ein Heldenleben (A Hero’s Life)

Vasily Petrenko

conductor

Boris Giltburg

piano

Richard Strauss boasted that he could depict even a knife and fork in music – so when he came to paint a musical self-portrait, he wasn’t exactly modest! From earsplitting battles and roof-raising fanfares to shamelessly steamy love-scenes, everything about Ein Heldenleben is supersized. Vasily Petrenko conducts one of the real highlights of our season, with the sensational Boris Giltburg performing one of Beethoven’s earliest piano concertos.

Kabalevsky

Overture, Colas Breugnon

Prokofiev

Sinfonia Concertante for cello and orchestra

Shostakovich

The Age of Gold, Suite

Khachaturian

Spartacus, Suite

Vasily Petrenko

conductor

Alban Gerhardt

cello

‘Football is the ballet of the masses’ said Dmitri Shostakovich, and you won’t find anyone here disagreeing. But whatever your team allegiances, this concert is packed with tunes that everyone can cheer – whether Shostakovich’s outrageously tuneful football ballet The Age of Gold, the physical comedy of Kabalevsky’s Colas Breugnon, or the hard-hitting action and soaring romance of Khachaturian’s Spartacus. It’s another zinger of a concert from Vasily Petrenko’s native Russia – with, at its heart, Alban Gerhardt’s performance of Prokofiev’s Sinfonia Concertante. Because a truly epic cello concerto demands a truly great cellist.

Tchaikovsky

Cossack Dance from Mazeppa

Prokofiev

Sinfonia Concertante for cello and orchestra

Glazunov

Raymonda, Excerpts

Khachaturian

Spartacus, Suite

Vasily Petrenko

conductor

Alban Gerhardt

cello

Heroic gladiators, tragic lovers, fairytale princesses and Cossack riders: when you hear the music of the Russian ballet, it’s like stepping into a fabulous storybook. Vasily Petrenko adores it, and this afternoon he takes us from the Imperial splendour of Glazunov’s Raymonda to the hard-hitting action and soaring romance of Khachaturian’s Spartacus – plus a brilliant little vodka-shot of an opener from Tchaikovsky (it’s got snow on its boots). But at the heart of this concert is the bold, passionate poetry of Prokofiev’s Sinfonia Concertante: a truly epic cello concerto, played by a truly great cellist.

Nikolai Rimsky-KorsakovRussian Easter Festival Overture

Nikolai Rimsky-KorsakovCapriccio Espagnol

Maurice Ravel Sheherazade

Ottorino Respighi Feste Romane

Vasily Petrenko conductor

Veronique Gens soprano

Our season ends as it started: in Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s magical world of sound.

In Rimsky-Korsakov’s Russian Easter Festival Overture, the incense lies thickly over orthodox melodies while his brilliant Capriccio Espagnol basks in glittering colours and revels in fiery Spanish dances. In addition to this, you are invited to experience both ancient and modern Rome in Respighi’s spectacular Feste Romane. Shéhérazade herself is still very present − but this time Rimsky-Korsakov’s Russian colours are replaced by Ravel’s French brushstrokes, with star soprano Véronique Gens as narrator.

Some might claim that Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (1844−1908) had a sole outstanding ability as a composer − he was able to put orchestral sound to use in very varied, elegant and inventive ways. In addition to his famed suite on the subject of Sheherazade, he is particularly known for his Russian Easter Festival Overture, and his Capriccio Espagnol. Both are brilliant, if very different, orchestral compositions, and both received their world premieres in St. Petersburg in 1887 and 1888 respectively.

In the first piece, Rimsky-Korsakov uses melodies from Obikhod, a collection of hymns from Russian orthodox liturgical practice. For the world premiere, the composer supplied the music with biblical verses from Psalm 68 and the Gospel of Mark, as well as his own description of the Easter holiday. The work has an indisputably solemn aura about it, but is at the same time replete with light, joy and a multitude of colours.

This is most certainly the case also in Capriccio Espagnol, where the composer uses the dances alborada and fandango asturiano from the Asturias region in Spain as a framework. The orchestration is, if possible, even more colourful and spectacular in this work than in the Easter Overture, especially thanks to the huge percussion section and the many imaginative harmonies and playing techniques. In the fourth movement the strings are even intended to imitate guitars!

While Rimsky-Korsakov drew inspiration from Russian orthodox culture, Ottorino Respighi (1879−1936) cast his gaze back in time to Italian music- and cultural history. He often used stylistic elements from the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries in his unique form of modernism, which was full of fantasy, but he was also fascinated by even older tales from ancient Rome. He is best known for his three orchestral works Fountains of Rome, Pines of Rome and Feste Romane.

With the overwhelming brass fanfare in the first movement Circences, Respighi throws us straight into a bloodbath in the Colosseum where gladiators fight for their lives. In Giubilo, medieval pilgrims wander slowly and solemnly until they catch sight of Rome in the distance, when they break out in praise. L’ottobrata depicts an old-fashioned thanksgiving where both hunting and dance are guaranteed ingredients. In the last movement, La Befana, people are gathered on the Piazza Navona, ready for song, dance and celebration, joined even by a drunk tenor trombone. Feste Romane was performed for the first time by Arturo Toscanini and the New York Philharmonic in 1929.

Maurice Ravel’s (1875−1937) interest in Orientalism was equal to that of Rimsky-Korsakov, and he also shared the Russian composer’s interest in orchestration and orchestral colours. In his song cycle Shéhérazade (1904), Ravel has written music to three poems by Tristan Klingsor, who was inspired by namely Rimsky-Korsakov’s suite. In Asie, the protagonist loses himself in a fantasy about “The East”. La flûte enchantée is about a slave girl who overhears her beloved play the flute outside her window, while the protagonist fails to seduce his object of desire in L’indifférent. All this is wrapped in Ravel’s spellbinding sound.

Nikolai Rimsky-KorsakovRussian Easter Festival Overture

Nikolai Rimsky-KorsakovCapriccio Espagnol

Maurice Ravel Sheherazade

Ottorino Respighi Feste Romane

Vasily Petrenko conductor

Veronique Gens soprano

Our season ends as it started: in Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s magical world of sound.

In Rimsky-Korsakov’s Russian Easter Festival Overture, the incense lies thickly over orthodox melodies while his brilliant Capriccio Espagnol basks in glittering colours and revels in fiery Spanish dances. In addition to this, you are invited to experience both ancient and modern Rome in Respighi’s spectacular Feste Romane. Shéhérazade herself is still very present − but this time Rimsky-Korsakov’s Russian colours are replaced by Ravel’s French brushstrokes, with star soprano Véronique Gens as narrator.

Some might claim that Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (1844−1908) had a sole outstanding ability as a composer − he was able to put orchestral sound to use in very varied, elegant and inventive ways. In addition to his famed suite on the subject of Sheherazade, he is particularly known for his Russian Easter Festival Overture, and his Capriccio Espagnol. Both are brilliant, if very different, orchestral compositions, and both received their world premieres in St. Petersburg in 1887 and 1888 respectively.

In the first piece, Rimsky-Korsakov uses melodies from Obikhod, a collection of hymns from Russian orthodox liturgical practice. For the world premiere, the composer supplied the music with biblical verses from Psalm 68 and the Gospel of Mark, as well as his own description of the Easter holiday. The work has an indisputably solemn aura about it, but is at the same time replete with light, joy and a multitude of colours.

This is most certainly the case also in Capriccio Espagnol, where the composer uses the dances alborada and fandango asturiano from the Asturias region in Spain as a framework. The orchestration is, if possible, even more colourful and spectacular in this work than in the Easter Overture, especially thanks to the huge percussion section and the many imaginative harmonies and playing techniques. In the fourth movement the strings are even intended to imitate guitars!

While Rimsky-Korsakov drew inspiration from Russian orthodox culture, Ottorino Respighi (1879−1936) cast his gaze back in time to Italian music- and cultural history. He often used stylistic elements from the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries in his unique form of modernism, which was full of fantasy, but he was also fascinated by even older tales from ancient Rome. He is best known for his three orchestral works Fountains of Rome, Pines of Rome and Feste Romane.

With the overwhelming brass fanfare in the first movement Circences, Respighi throws us straight into a bloodbath in the Colosseum where gladiators fight for their lives. In Giubilo, medieval pilgrims wander slowly and solemnly until they catch sight of Rome in the distance, when they break out in praise. L’ottobrata depicts an old-fashioned thanksgiving where both hunting and dance are guaranteed ingredients. In the last movement, La Befana, people are gathered on the Piazza Navona, ready for song, dance and celebration, joined even by a drunk tenor trombone. Feste Romane was performed for the first time by Arturo Toscanini and the New York Philharmonic in 1929.

Maurice Ravel’s (1875−1937) interest in Orientalism was equal to that of Rimsky-Korsakov, and he also shared the Russian composer’s interest in orchestration and orchestral colours. In his song cycle Shéhérazade (1904), Ravel has written music to three poems by Tristan Klingsor, who was inspired by namely Rimsky-Korsakov’s suite. In Asie, the protagonist loses himself in a fantasy about “The East”. La flûte enchantée is about a slave girl who overhears her beloved play the flute outside her window, while the protagonist fails to seduce his object of desire in L’indifférent. All this is wrapped in Ravel’s spellbinding sound.

Programme to include some of the most loved film scores from the Spielberg films including:
Jurassic Park
Jaws
War Horse
Schindler’s List
Indiana Jones
Close Encounters of the Third Kind
E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial

From Neverland to the Western Front, from shark-cage to starship, whether you’re adventuring with Indiana Jones or cycling though the air with a little alien who just wants to phone home, you already know the music! John Williams has given us some of the greatest film music of the past five decades – movie themes that have become the soundtracks to all our lives. And they’ll never sound better than this: live in concert with Vasily Petrenko conducting the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra. With cinematic visuals and spectacular, specially-devised lighting and digital effects, this should be a blockbuster night out.

Programme to include some of the most loved film scores from the Spielberg films including:
Jurassic Park
Jaws
War Horse
Schindler’s List
Indiana Jones
Close Encounters of the Third Kind
E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial

From Neverland to the Western Front, from shark-cage to starship, whether you’re adventuring with Indiana Jones or cycling though the air with a little alien who just wants to phone home, you already know the music! John Williams has given us some of the greatest film music of the past five decades – movie themes that have become the soundtracks to all our lives. And they’ll never sound better than this: live in concert with Vasily Petrenko conducting the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra. With cinematic visuals and spectacular, specially-devised lighting and digital effects, this should be a blockbuster night out.

Holst

The Perfect Fool, Suite

Walton

Façade, Suite

Elgar

The Music Makers

Vasily Petrenko

conductor

Kathryn Rudge

mezzo-soprano

Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Choir

‘We are the music makers, the dreamers of dreams…’ When Elgar wrote The Music Makers he reached deep into his own soul. The result was some of the most sincere and profoundly beautiful music even he ever wrote. If you haven’t heard The Music Makers, you don’t really know Elgar, and Vasily Petrenko, the Choir and Liverpool’s own mezzo-soprano Kathryn Rudge will strive to get closer than ever to this great but troubled genius. Holst’s devilish little ballet and Walton’s uproarious Façade both go to show that British music is never quite what you expect…