ROMANTIC RACHMANINOFF PROMISES TO MAKE LA FILARMONICA’S 5TH ANNIVERSARY MEMORABLE

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Sergei Redkin, the piano soloist at La Filarmonica’s Rachmaninoff concert

By Dan Lowell

La Filarmonica is very happy to announce their Rachmaninoff
Commemorative Concert on their 5th Anniversary

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Program

MARIINSKY THEATER SYMPHONIC ORCHESTRA
VALERY GERGIEV, Conductor
SERGEI REDKIN, Piano

RIMSKI-KÓRSAKOV, The Tale of Tsar Saltan
RACHMANINOFF, Rhapsody of a Paganini Theme, op.43
LIADOV, The Enchanted Lake, op.62
RACHMANINOV, Symphony Dances, op.45

 

Thursday, 26 January 2017
19:30
Auditorio Nacional, Madrid

•  Commemoration of the 5th Anniversary of La Filarmonica Concert Society

The 26th of January is a very special day for La Filarmonica. They are celebrating the Commemorative Concert of the 5th Season with the presence of Maestro Valery Gergiev who, along with other great figures such as Daniele Gatti, Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, Marurizio Pollini, Christoph Eschenbach, Maria Jaoa Pires and Martha Argerich, have made it possible for La Filarmonica to be a point of reference in the musical life of Madrid.


•  Gergiev and the Mariinsky Theater Symphony Orchestra of St. Petersburg

Valery Gergiev/Marco Borggreve

Maestro Gergiev and the legendary Mariinsky Orchestra have been a reference for the last 5 seasons of La Filarmonica. That is why the concert society has chosen them as the most representative to commemorate its 5th anniversary. Mariinsky, one of the oldest musical groups of Russia (its history dates back to the eighteenth century), has been transformed since the arrival of Valery Gergiev in 1988. He increased the number of musicians and improved the quality of their instruments, considerably increasing their repertoire.

As well as being director-general and artistic director of the Mariinsky Theater, he is the titular conductor of the Munich Philharmonic, among other orchestras. He is also one of the maximum promoters of the International Tchaikovsky Contest, a showcase for rising young talents, as in the case of the soloist of this concert, young Sergei Redkin.


•  Delving into the Russian Repertoire

The Merchants visit Tsar Saltan, illustration of Pushkin’s poem by Ivan Bilibin who would later provide designs for premieres by Rimsky-Korsakov/ http://bibliotekar.ru/kBilibin/15.htm, Public Domain

The program of this concert proposes a wise mixture of rated works and less known pearls of the Russian repertoire. The concert will start with the martial rhythm of the Rimsky-Korsakov Suite from the opera The Tale of Tsar Saltan. The libretto was written by Vladimir Belsky, and is based on the poem of the same name by Aleksandr Pushkin. The opera, which was composed in 1899–1900, was first performed in 1900 in Moscow.

Following Tsar Saltan, the evening with La Filarmonica will then continue with a Rhapsody of a Paganini theme, one of the most subtle works of Rachmaninoff which refers to the 24 Caprices of Paganini.

The second part starts with an unknown treasure of the Russian repertoire, The Enchanted Lake of Liadov, a work based on a Russian fairytale which takes place in a spooky forest, reminiscent of Debussy impressionism. The concert ends with the celebrated Rachmaninoff Symphonic Dances, which Rachmaninov composed at the end of his life and could be said to be a summary of all his works, as well as reflecting the influence of Russian popular music and the orthodox canticos.