Shostakovich: Symphony No. 11, 'The Year 1905'

The Symphony No. 11 in G minor (Opus 103; subtitled The Year 1905) by Dmitri Shostakovich was written in 1957 and premiered, by the USSR Symphony Orchestra under Natan Rakhlin, on 30 October 1957. The subtitle of the symphony refers to the events of the Russian Revolution of 1905. The symphony was conceived as a popular piece and proved an instant success in Russia—his greatest, in fact, since the Leningrad Symphony fifteen years earlier. The work's popular success, as well as its earning him a Lenin Prize in April 1958, marked the composer's formal rehabilitation from the Zhdanov Doctrine of 1948. A month after the composer had received the Lenin Prize, a Central Committee resolution "correcting the errors" of the 1948 decree restored all those affected by it to official favor, blaming their treatment on "J.V. Stalin's subjective attitude to certain works of art and the very adverse influence exercised on Stalin by Molotov, Malenkov and Beria.
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VIDEO: Moscow Philarmonic conductor, Kirill Kondrashin

Shostakovich: Symphony No. 5

The Symphony No. 5 in D minor, Op. 47, by Dmitri Shostakovich is a work for orchestra composed between April and July 1937. Its first performance was on November 21, 1937, in Leningrad by the Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra under Yevgeny Mravinsky. The premiere was a huge success, and received an ovation that lasted well over half an hour. WIKIPEDIA UCLA

VIDEO: Leonard Bernstein with the New York Philharmonic, playing the Symphony No. 5 of Dmitri Shostakovich at a 1979 live perfomance on Bunka Kainan, Tokyo, Japan.
 

Shostakovich - Piano Concerto No 2 in F major, Op 102

Piano Concerto No. 2 in F major, Op. 102, by Dmitri Shostakovich was composed in 1957 for his son Maxim's 19th birthday. Maxim premiered the piece during his graduation at the Moscow Conservatory. It is an uncharacteristically cheerful piece, much more so than most of Shostakovich's works. This concerto is sometimes dismissed as one of the composer's less important works, especially in comparison to some of the symphonies and string quartets. In a letter to Edison Denisov in mid-February 1957, barely a week after he had finished work on it, the composer himself wrote that the work had "no redeeming artistic merits". It is suggested that Shostakovich wanted to pre-empt criticism by deprecating the work himself (having been the victim of official censure numerous times), and that the comment was actually meant to be tongue-in-cheek. Despite the apparent simplistic nature of this concerto, the public has always regarded it warmly, and it stands as one of Shostakovich's most popular pieces. The British classical radio station Classic FM holds an annual contest and in 2015 the concerto was voted 26th in the Classic FM Hall of Fame, the highest of any piano concerto except for Rachmaninov's second and Grieg's. WIKIPEDIA

VIDEO: Dmitri Shostakovich Piano Concerto No 2 in F major, Op 102 1 Allegro 2 Andante 3 Allegro Denis Matsuev, piano Mariinsky Theatre Symphony Orchestra Valery Gergiev, conductor

 

Dmitri Shostakovich: Symphony No. 7 Op. 60 "Leningrad" (1942)

Dmitri Shostakovich's Symphony No. 7 in C major, Op. 60 (titled Leningrad), was written c. 1939–40. Initially dedicated to the life and deeds of Vladimir Lenin, Shostakovich decided instead to dedicate the symphony to the city of Leningrad on its completion in December 1941. The work remains one of Shostakovich's best-known compositions. The piece soon became very popular in both the Soviet Union and the West as a symbol of resistance to Nazi totalitarianism and militarism. It is still regarded as the major musical testament of the estimated 25 million Soviet citizens who lost their lives in World War II. The symphony is played frequently at the Leningrad Cemetery, where half a million victims of the 900-day Siege of Leningrad are buried. As a condemnation of the German invasion of the Soviet Union, the work is particularly representative of the political responsibilities that Shostakovich felt he had for the state, regardless of the conflicts and criticisms he faced throughout his career with Soviet censors and Joseph Stalin. WIKIPEDIA

VIDEO: Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by/Orquesta Filarmónica Real de Liverpool dirigida por Vasily Petrenko... Shostakovich’s Seventh is the best known art music piece of WWII, considering half of it was composed through the siege of Leningrad. It is a work that reflects not only the factual actions of the conflict, but also many of its philosophical principles, if there were any. Likely, these are the reasons for its everlasting place in history.
 

SHOSTAKOVICH: The Second Waltz, Op. 99, music to the film The First Echelon (ru) (1955–1956)

Shostakovich's orchestral works include 15 symphonies and six concerti. His chamber output includes 15 string quartets, a piano quintet, two piano trios, and two pieces for string octet. His piano works include two solo sonatas, an early set of preludes, and a later set of 24 preludes and fugues. Other works include three operas, several song cycles, ballets, and a substantial quantity of film music; especially well known is The Second Waltz, Op. 99, music to the film The First Echelon (ru) (1955–1956), "The Second Waltz (from "Eyes Wide Shut")"... as well as the Suites composed for The Gadfly.

 The Second Waltz of Dmitri Shostakovich is from the 1955 Soviet feature film “The First Echelon“. It is actually only the “Waltz” (eighth movement) from The First Echelon (suite from the film score), Op. 99a. Its popular name is coming from “Suite for Variety Orchestra” (also named Suite for Variety Stage Orchestra); a suite in eight movements, written after 1956 by the Russian composer. The “waltz” is the seventh movement of the suite, and it is the “second” waltz in the work, hence the name “The second waltz”. Here it is played by André Rieu‘s “Johann Strauss Orchestra“.
 VIDEO: André Rieu - The Second Waltz (Shostakovich)

Antonio Salieri Concerto in C Major for Flute, Oboe and Orch

Antonio Salieri is recognized as one of the finest opera composers of his day. However, his purely instrumental output is much more scant, and it has been ardently ignored. The Concerto for flute, oboe, and orchestra in C major -- a work that the featured wind players would surely would have wanted -- remained unpublished for 188 years after its composition in 1774 (the same year that he was appointed, at age 24, as Kapellmeister of the Italian Opera in Vienna).

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 VIDEO: Concerto for Flute, Oboe & Orchestra in C major - Antonio Salieri Flute Kristina Shestak Oboe Evgeniy Slabenjak Conduktor Ludmila Zhabinskaya

SCHUMANN Cello Concerto in a, Op 129

 The Cello Concerto in A minor, Op. 129, by Robert Schumann was completed in a period of only two weeks, between 10 October and 24 October 1850, shortly after Schumann became the music director at Düsseldorf. The concerto was never played in Schumann's lifetime. It was premiered on 9 June 1860, four years after his death, at the Leipzig Conservatory in a concert in honour of the 50th anniversary of Schumann's birth, with Ludwig Ebert as soloist. The length of a typical performance is about 25 minutes. VIDEO: Mario Brunello plays the Schumann's Cello Concerto op.129 Umberto Benedetti Michelangeli conducts the Rai National Symphony Orchestra (Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della Rai) Turin, 1996
 

Saint Saens Cello Concerto No 1 in A minor, Op 33

Camille Saint-Saëns composed his Cello Concerto No. 1 in A minor, Op. 33 in 1872, when the composer was 37 years old. He wrote this work for the Belgian cellist, viola de gamba player and instrument maker Auguste Tolbecque. Tolbecque was part of a distinguished family of musicians closely associated with the Société des Concerts du Conservatoire, France’s leading concert society. The concerto was first performed on January 19, 1873 at the Paris conservatoire concert with Tolbecque as soloist. This was considered a mark of Saint-Saëns' growing acceptance by the French musical establishment. Sir Donald Francis Tovey later wrote "Here, for once, is a violoncello concerto in which the solo instrument displays every register without the slightest difficulty in penetrating the orchestra." Many composers, including Shostakovich and Rachmaninoff, considered this concerto to be the greatest of all cello concertos. WIKIPEDIA

VIDEO: Jacqueline Du Pre
 

Saint-Saëns - Le Carnaval des animaux, The Carnival Of The Animals

The Carnival of the Animals (Le carnaval des animaux) is a musical suite of fourteen movements by the French Romantic composer Camille Saint-Saëns. The work was written for private performance by an ad hoc ensemble of two pianos and other instruments, and lasts around 25 minutes. Following a disastrous concert tour of Germany in 1885–86, Saint-Saëns withdrew to a small Austrian village, where he composed The Carnival of the Animals in February 1886. It is scored for two pianos, two violins, viola, cello, double bass, flute (and piccolo), clarinet (C and B♭), glass harmonica, and xylophone. From the beginning, Saint-Saëns regarded the work as a piece of fun. On 9 February 1886 he wrote to his publishers Durand in Paris that he was composing a work for the coming Shrove Tuesday, and confessing that he knew he should be working on his Third Symphony, but that this work was "such fun" ("... mais c'est si amusant!"). He had apparently intended to write the work for his students at the École Niedermeyer, but it was first performed at a private concert given by the cellist Charles Lebouc on Shrove Tuesday, 9 March 1886. Saint-Saëns did specify in his will that the work should be published posthumously. Following his death in December 1921, the work was published by Durand in Paris in April 1922 and the first public performance was given on 25 February 1922 by Concerts Colonne (the orchestra of Édouard Colonne). Carnival has since become one of Saint-Saëns's best-known works. WIKIPEDIA

 VIDEO: La Folle Journée de Varsovie 2013, Szalone Dni Muzyki w Warszawie, The Grand Theatre in Warsaw, Poland, September 29 Symphony Orchestra of The Stanisław Moniuszko Music School in Wałbrzych, Poland.
 

Saint-Saëns - Samson and Delilah

 Samson and Delilah (French: Samson et Dalila), Op. 47, is a grand opera in three acts and four scenes by Camille Saint-Saëns to a French libretto by Ferdinand Lemaire. It was first performed in Weimar at the Grossherzogliches (Grand Ducal) Theater (now the Staatskapelle Weimar) on 2 December 1877 in a German translation. The opera is based on the Biblical tale of Samson and Delilah found in Chapter 16 of the Book of Judges in the Old Testament. It is the only opera by Saint-Saëns that is regularly performed. The second act love scene in Delilah's tent is one of the set pieces that define French opera. Two of Delilah's arias are particularly well known: "Printemps qui commence" and "Mon cœur s'ouvre à ta voix" ("My heart opens itself to your voice", also known as "Softly awakes my heart"), the latter of which is one of the most popular recital pieces in the mezzo-soprano/contralto repertoire. WIKIPEDIA

VIDEO: UMASS University Orchestra February 5, 2010 Matthew Bertuzzi - Conductor Saint-Saëns - Bacchanal from Samson and Delilah Drew University Concert Hall
 

Saint-Saëns Piano Concerto No. 2 in G minor, Op. 22

 

The Piano Concerto No. 2 in G minor, Op. 22 by Camille Saint-Saëns, was composed in 1868 and is probably Saint-Saëns' most popular piano concerto. It was dedicated to Madame A. de Villers née de Haber. At the première, the composer was the soloist and Anton Rubinstein conducted the orchestra. Saint-Saëns wrote the concerto in three weeks, and had very little time to prepare for the première; consequently, the piece was not initially successful. The capricious changes in style provoked Zygmunt Stojowski to quip that it "begins with Bach and ends with Offenbach WIKIPEDIA

VIDEO: London Symphony Orchestra André Previn, conductor Artur Rubinstein - Saint-Saëns - Piano Concerto No 2 in G minor, Op 22
 

Strauss - Der Rosenkavalier/Waltz Suite Op.59

Der Rosenkavalier (The Knight of the Rose or The Rose-Bearer), Op. 59, is a comic opera in three acts by Richard Strauss to an original German libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal. It is loosely adapted from the novel Les amours du chevalier de Faublas by Louvet de Couvrai and Molière’s comedy Monsieur de Pourceaugnac. It was first performed at the Königliches Opernhaus in Dresden on 26 January 1911 under the direction of Max Reinhardt, Ernst von Schuch conducting. Until the premiere the working title was Ochs von Lerchenau. (The choice of the name Ochs is not accidental, for in German Ochs means ox, which depicts the character of the Baron throughout the opera.) The opera has four main characters: the aristocratic Marschallin, her very young lover Count Octavian Rofrano, her coarse cousin Baron Ochs and Ochs' prospective fiancée Sophie von Faninal, daughter of a rich bourgeois. At the Marschallin's suggestion Ochs gets Octavian to act as his Rosenkavalier and present the ceremonial silver rose to Sophie. But when Octavian meets Sophie they fall in love at first sight. By a comic intrigue they get rid of Ochs with the help of the Marschallin, who then yields Octavian to the younger woman.Although a comic opera, Der Rosenkavalier also operates at a deeper level. Conscious of the difference in age between herself and Octavian, the Marschallin muses in bittersweet fashion over the passing of time, growing old and men's inconstancy. There are many recordings of the opera and it is regularly performed.

 VIDEO: Prom 57: Wagner, Berg, R. Strauss & Ravel R. Strauss - Der Rosenkavalier -- suite Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester Daniele Gatti conductor Royal Albert Hall, 26 August 2012
 

R Strauss: Salome - Dance of the Seven Veils

 The Dance of the Seven Veils is a term used to refer to the dance performed by Salome before Herod Antipas. It is an elaboration on the biblical story of the execution of John the Baptist, which refers to Salome dancing before the king, but does not give the dance a name. The name "Dance of the Seven Veils" originates with Oscar Wilde's 1891 play Salome in the stage direction “[Salome dances the dance of the seven veils.]”. The dance was also incorporated into Richard Strauss's opera Salome. Wilde's choice of title for the dance has been linked to the popularity of orientalist "veil dances" in the period and to the emergence of striptease acts. Salome, Op. 54, is an opera in one act by Richard Strauss to a German libretto by the composer, based on Hedwig Lachmann's German translation of the French play Salomé by Oscar Wilde. Strauss dedicated the opera to his friend Sir Edgar Speyer. The opera is famous (at the time of its premiere, infamous) for its "Dance of the Seven Veils". The final scene is frequently heard as a concert-piece for dramatic sopranos. WIKIPEDIA

VIDEO: Richard Strauss - SALOME Salome : Erika Sunnegårdh Dance of the Seven Veils
 

Strauss Alpine Symphony

 An Alpine Symphony (Eine Alpensinfonie), Op. 64, is a tone poem written by German composer Richard Strauss in 1915. Though labelled as a symphony by the composer, this piece forgoes the conventions of the traditional multi-movement symphony and consists of twenty-two continuous sections of music. The story of An Alpine Symphony depicts the experiences of eleven hours (from daybreak just before dawn to the following nightfall) spent climbing an Alpine mountain. An Alpine Symphony is one of Strauss's largest non-operatic works in terms of performing forces: the score calls for about 125 players in total. A typical performance is about 50 minutes duration. This piece was the last tone poem written by Strauss, a genre which gained the composer popularity in the late 1880s and 1890s with works such as Don Juan (1888), Till Eulenspiegel's Merry Pranks (1895), Also Sprach Zarathustra (1896), Don Quixote (1897), and A Hero's Life (1897–98). By the time of An Alpine Symphony's composition, however, Strauss had turned his attention away from the genre of tone poems and had become well-established as one of the period's greatest operatic composers. Though one of Strauss's lesser-performed works (for a number of reasons, including the great number of musicians required), the piece is popular enough that in 1981 a recording of An Alpine Symphony made with Herbert von Karajan conducting the Berlin Philharmonic became one of the first compact discs to be pressed. WIKIPEDIA

 VIDEO: BBC PROMS 2012 London - Royal Albert Hall Bernard Haitink conducts the Vienna Philharmonic in Strauss's An Alpine Symphony Eine Alpensinfonie - Op. 64, is a tone poem by German composer Richard Strauss in 1915
 

Schubert Piano Sonata No 18 D 894 in G major

The Piano Sonata in G major D. 894, Op. 78 by Franz Schubert is a sonata for solo piano, completed in October 1826. The work is sometimes called the "Fantasie", a title which the publisher Tobias Haslinger, rather than Schubert, gave to the first movement of the work. It was the last of Schubert's sonatas published during his lifetime, and was later described by Schumann as the "most perfect in form and conception" of any of Schubert's sonatas.

 VIDEO: Franz Schubert Piano Sonata No 18 D 894 G major Alfred Brendel, piano
 

Schumann - Piano Concerto Op.54

  The Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 54, is a Romantic concerto by Robert Schumann, completed in 1845. The work premiered in Leipzig on 1 January 1846 with Clara Schumann playing the solo part. Ferdinand Hiller, the work's dedicatee, conducted. Schumann had earlier worked on several piano concerti: he began one in E-flat major in 1828, from 1829–31 he worked on one in F major, and in 1839, he wrote one movement of a concerto in D minor. None of these works were completed. In 1841, Schumann wrote a fantasy for piano and orchestra, his Phantasie. His pianist wife Clara urged him to expand this piece into a full piano concerto. In 1845 he added the intermezzo and finale to complete the work. It was the only piano concerto that Schumann completed. The work may have been used as a model by Edvard Grieg in composing his own Piano Concerto, also in A minor. Grieg's concerto, like Schumann's, employs a single powerful orchestral chord at its introduction before the piano's entrance with a similar descending flourish. Rachmaninov also used the work as a model for his first Piano Concerto. After this concerto, Schumann wrote two other pieces for piano and orchestra: the Introduction and Allegro Appassionato in G major (Op. 92), and the Introduction and Allegro Concertante in D minor (Op. 134). WIKIPEDIA

VIDEO: Performer: Evgeny Kissin Orchestra: London Symphony Orchestra Conductor: Colin Davis

 

Vivaldi: Concerto for Strings in D Major, RV 121

Vivaldi is known mainly for composing many instrumental concertos, for the violin and a variety of other instruments, as well as sacred choral works and more than forty operas. His best-known work is a series of violin concertos known as The Four Seasons. In 1926, in a monastery in Piedmont, researchers discovered fourteen folios of Vivaldi's work that were previously thought to have been lost during the Napoleonic Wars. Some missing volumes in the numbered set were discovered in the collections of the descendants of the Grand Duke Durazzo, who had acquired the monastery complex in the 18th century. The volumes contained 300 concertos, 19 operas and over 100 vocal-instrumental works. His Concerto for strings in D Major, RV 121 was composed in the mid 1720's or 1736 at the latest. WIKIPEDIA

 VIDEO: Tempesta di Mare Chamber Players performed Vivaldi's Concerto for Strings in D, RV121 in October 2013.
 

Strauss - Don Juan op. 20

Don Juan, Op. 20, is a tone poem in E major for large orchestra written by the German composer Richard Strauss in 1888. It is singled out by Carl Dahlhaus as a "musical symbol of fin-de-siècle modernism", particularly for the "breakaway mood" of its opening bars. The premiere of Don Juan took place on 11 November 1889 in Weimar, where Strauss served as Court Kapellmeister; he conducted the orchestra of the Weimar Opera. The work, composed when Strauss was only twenty-four years old, became an international success and established his reputation. In comments written two days after the premiere, Strauss said, "Well then – Don Juan had a great success, it sounded wonderful and went very well. It unleashed a storm of applause rather unusual for Weimar."[this quote needs a citation] The Don Juan legend originated in Renaissance-era Spain. Strauss's tone poem is based on Don Juans Ende, a play derived from an unfinished 1844 retelling of the tale by poet Nikolaus Lenau (Nikolaus Franz Niembsch Edler von Strehlenau). Strauss reprinted three excerpts from the play in his score. In Lenau's rendering, Don Juan's promiscuity springs from his determination to find the ideal woman. Despairing of ever finding her, he ultimately surrenders to melancholy and wills his own death. Performances of the work last around sixteen minutes. The difficulty of the work makes excerpts from Don Juan a staple of orchestral audition lists for many instruments. WIKIPEDIA

 VIDEO: Richard Strauss Don Juan, Symphonic Poem Op. 20 Herbert von Karajan Osaka, Japan 1984  

Strauss Till Eulenspiegel's Merry Pranks

WIKIPEDIA

Till Eulenspiegel's Merry Pranks (German: Till Eulenspiegels lustige Streiche, pronounced [tɪl ˈoʏ̯lənʃpiːɡl̩s ˈlʊstɪɡə ˈʃtraɪçə]), Op. 28, is a tone poem written in 1894–95 by Richard Strauss. It chronicles the misadventures and pranks of the German peasant folk hero Till Eulenspiegel, who is represented by two themes. The first, played by the horn, is a lilting melody that reaches a peak, falls downward, and ends in three long, loud notes, each progressively lower. The second, for D clarinet, is crafty and wheedling, suggesting a trickster doing what he does best.

VIDEO: The New York Philharmonic under former Musical Director Zubin Mehta performs Richard Strauss' Till Eulenspiegel's Merry Pranks live in concert. This performance was from the Philharmonic's 150th Anniversary concert live telecast from Avery Fisher Hall in 1992. 

R STRAUSS: Metamorphosen

Metamorphosen, study for 23 solo strings (TrV 290, AV 142) is a composition by Richard Strauss, scored for ten violins, five violas, five cellos, and three double basses. It was composed during the closing months of the Second World War, from August 1944 to March 1945. The piece was commissioned by Paul Sacher, the founder and director of the Basler Kammerorchester and Collegium Musicum Zürich, to whom Strauss dedicated it. It was first performed in January 1946 by Sacher and the Collegium Musicum Zürich, with Strauss conducting the final rehearsal (Wilhelm 1989, page 267). In 1996, Rudolf Leopold wrote a version for Septet By 1944, Strauss' health was not good and he needed to visit the Swiss spa at Baden near Zurich. However, he was unable to get permission to travel abroad from the Nazi government. Karl Bohm, Paul Sacher and Willi Schuh came up with a plan to get the travel permit: a commission from Sacher and invitation to the premier in Zurich. The commission was made in a letter from Bohm on August 28, 1944 for a "suite for strings". Strauss replied that he had been working for some time on an adagio for 11 strings (May 2010, page 187). In fact, in the early work on Metamorphosen he wrote for a septet (2 violins, 2 violas, 2 cellos and a bass), later expanding it to 23 strings. The starting date for the score is given as 13 March 1945, which suggests that the destruction of the Vienna opera house the previous day gave Strauss the impetus to finish the work and draw together his previous sketches in just one month (finished on 12 April 1945). WIKIPEDIA

VIDEO: Herbert von Karajan "Metamorphosen" R. Strauss