26.06 / mo / 20:00—21:30

Wagner: Ouvertures

Soldatov Palace of Culture
On the programme:
Alexey Retinsky (b. 1986)
Water Has No Hair, overture to the overture from Wagner's opera Tristan and Isolde (2023, Russian premiere)

Richard Wagner (1813 – 1883)

Vorspiel und Liebestod from the opera Tristan und Isolde (1857 – 1859)
Vorspiel to the opera Lohengrin (1845 – 1848)
Overture to the opera Tannhäuser (1843 – 1845)
Vorspiel to the opera Parsifal (1882)
Siegfried's Journey Along the Rhine from the opera Götterdämmerung (1874)

musicAeterna Orchestra
Conductor Teodor Currentzis


12+
Richard Wagner is one of the most influential composers in the history of music, a cultural hero, myth, and symbol, whose work and views still remain the subject of frenzied debate. Orchestral music belongs to his most indisputable creative achievements: the technical perfection and expressiveness of his instrumentation were recognized even by sceptically minded critics. Wagner was a reformer of the art of orchestration, as well as the founder of conducting practice in its modern form.

Opera overtures form a significant part of Wagner’s symphonic legacy. To the traditional genre of the introduction to the opera, he brings new ideas that have developed in the programmatic symphonic poems of the New German School. Wagner's overture is inseparable from the opera it precedes and it is not only due to their thematic connections. Anticipating the drama, it illustrates not its external events, but the key philosophical problems behind the plot: the conflict of carnal and spiritual love in "Tannhäuser", pessimism and ever-insatiable love longing in "Tristan", the outpouring of heavenly grace into the world in "Lohengrin"… The overtures included in the concert programme form a kind of synopsis of Wagner's mature work, a brief digest of the German heroic epic, which the composer developed all his life, borrowing motifs from chivalric novels, medieval legends, ancient myths, and historical chronicles.

The introduction to "Tristan and Isolde" is preceded by a new work by Alexey Retinsky, composed in the unique genre of "an overture to overture". Retinsky is approaching Wagner in his attention to orchestral colour and the mythological nature of artistic thinking. The title of his composition – "Water Has no Hair" – refers the audience to the romantic and symbolist circle of images, from Wagner's Rhine mermaids to Debussy-Maeterlinck's Melisande.

Soldatov Culture Palace

The programme includes:

Pyotr Tchaikovsky (1840–1893)

Francesca da Rimini,
Symphonic Fantasy after Dante, Op. 32 (1876)

Capriccio Italien
on folk tunes for orchestra, Op. 45 (1880)

Romeo and Juliet,
Overture-Fantasy after Shakespeare, TH 42 (1869–1880)

musicAeterna Orchestra
Conductor — Teodor Currentzis


12+

The symphonic evening with the musicAeterna Orchestra is dedicated to Italy depicted in Tchaikovsky's compositions. The most cosmopolitan of the Russian composers of the 19th century, Tchaikovsky travelled extensively throughout his life in Europe, by 1880 having managed to visit the Italian Peninsula three times. The very nature of his talent is more "Italian" than "German": Tchaikovsky appreciates open-hearted emotions and expressiveness of melody, saturates abstract symphonic genres with theatrical drama, and values success with the public higher than the approval of critics. The concert programme encompasses three of his opuses related to Italy musically or in terms of the plot.

The symphonic fantasy "Francesca da Rimini" coexists in Tchaikovsky's creative biography with "Swan Lake" and "Eugene Onegin" - all three compositions are united by the theme of the doomed love. The composer came about with the conception of "Francesca" on his way to Bayreuth for the premiere of "The Ring of the Nibelung"; Tchaikovsky later agreed with critics about Wagner's influence on his score. In the story of Paolo and Francesca, the composer is interested in its dramatic potential in the first place. Tchaikovsky is not prone to abstract searches for sound colour, he is emotionally involved in the chosen plot, emphasizing in it the acuteness of the conflict and the depth of feelings of the characters. Saint-Saens placed "Francesca" musically above Liszt's "Dante Symphony", and cellist Karl Davydov, to whom the author would later dedicate his "Capriccio Italien", called the fantasy "the greatest work of our time."

In December 1879, Tchaikovsky found himself in Rome during the carnival and, impressed by what he saw, decided to compose "something of the kind of Glinka's Spanish fantasies." A few months later, the score of the "Capriccio Italien" was ready. It indeed succeeds to Glinka's Spanish diptych in many ways – from the details of form and orchestration to the general treatment of the "national" in the vein of entertaining exoticism. Tchaikovsky in "Capriccio" looks at the Mediterranean with a tourist gaze: this is a paradise land where there are no sorrows, struggles and dramas, and sounds radiate joy, light, and serenity. "There is hardly any other composition in Russian classical music which contains not a single atom of gloom," as one of the reviewers summed up after the premiere.

The fantasy overture "Romeo and Juliet" is the only major symphonic composition by Tchaikovsky that does not have an opus number. Tchaikovsky could consider the overture not entirely his composition - since Balakirev's role in its creation, in fact, is teetering on the verge of co-authorship. It was Balakirev (to whom the overture is dedicated) who offered Tchaikovsky the plot, the tonal plan, the main images and even specific pictorial solutions ("fierce Allegro with saber strokes"), and his criticism forced Tchaikovsky to compose whole sections of the form anew, from the entrée to the outro. In "Romeo and Juliet" Tchaikovsky for the first time found his personal formula of symphonic drama: fatal images of doom, sharp contrasts, emotional waves, lyrics isolated and detached from the surrounding storms, tragic denouement of conflict, and ambiguous triumph. And also for the first time in his life he ascended to the top of melodic expressiveness - in the famous theme of love, which Rimsky-Korsakov later recognized as "one of the best themes of all Russian music."
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Soldatov Culture Palace

The programme includes:

Pyotr Tchaikovsky (1840–1893)

Francesca da Rimini,
Symphonic Fantasy after Dante, Op. 32 (1876)

Capriccio Italien
on folk tunes for orchestra, Op. 45 (1880)

Romeo and Juliet,
Overture-Fantasy after Shakespeare, TH 42 (1869–1880)

musicAeterna Orchestra
Conductor — Teodor Currentzis


12+

The symphonic evening with the musicAeterna Orchestra is dedicated to Italy depicted in Tchaikovsky's compositions. The most cosmopolitan of the Russian composers of the 19th century, Tchaikovsky travelled extensively throughout his life in Europe, by 1880 having managed to visit the Italian Peninsula three times. The very nature of his talent is more "Italian" than "German": Tchaikovsky appreciates open-hearted emotions and expressiveness of melody, saturates abstract symphonic genres with theatrical drama, and values success with the public higher than the approval of critics. The concert programme encompasses three of his opuses related to Italy musically or in terms of the plot.
 
The symphonic fantasy "Francesca da Rimini" coexists in Tchaikovsky's creative biography with "Swan Lake" and "Eugene Onegin" - all three compositions are united by the theme of the doomed love. The composer came about with the conception of "Francesca" on his way to Bayreuth for the premiere of "The Ring of the Nibelung"; Tchaikovsky later agreed with critics about Wagner's influence on his score. In the story of Paolo and Francesca, the composer is interested in its dramatic potential in the first place. Tchaikovsky is not prone to abstract searches for sound colour, he is emotionally involved in the chosen plot, emphasizing in it the acuteness of the conflict and the depth of feelings of the characters. Saint-Saens placed "Francesca" musically above Liszt's "Dante Symphony", and cellist Karl Davydov, to whom the author would later dedicate his "Capriccio Italien", called the fantasy "the greatest work of our time." 

In December 1879, Tchaikovsky found himself in Rome during the carnival and, impressed by what he saw, decided to compose "something of the kind of Glinka's Spanish fantasies." A few months later, the score of the "Capriccio Italien" was ready. It indeed succeeds to Glinka's Spanish diptych in many ways – from the details of form and orchestration to the general treatment of the "national" in the vein of entertaining exoticism. Tchaikovsky in "Capriccio" looks at the Mediterranean with a tourist gaze: this is a paradise land where there are no sorrows, struggles and dramas, and sounds radiate joy, light, and serenity. "There is hardly any other composition in Russian classical music which contains not a single atom of gloom," as one of the reviewers summed up after the premiere.
 
The fantasy overture "Romeo and Juliet" is the only major symphonic composition by Tchaikovsky that does not have an opus number. Tchaikovsky could consider the overture not entirely his composition - since Balakirev's role in its creation, in fact, is teetering on the verge of co-authorship. It was Balakirev (to whom the overture is dedicated) who offered Tchaikovsky the plot, the tonal plan, the main images and even specific pictorial solutions ("fierce Allegro with saber strokes"), and his criticism forced Tchaikovsky to compose whole sections of the form anew, from the entrée to the outro. In "Romeo and Juliet" Tchaikovsky for the first time found his personal formula of symphonic drama: fatal images of doom, sharp contrasts, emotional waves, lyrics isolated and detached from the surrounding storms, tragic denouement of conflict, and ambiguous triumph. And also for the first time in his life he ascended to the top of melodic expressiveness - in the famous theme of love, which Rimsky-Korsakov later recognized as "one of the best themes of all Russian music."

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Perm State Art Gallery

On the programme:

Enigma concert. The programme will be announced at the end of the concert.

The musicAeterna Choir
conducted by Vitaly Polonsky
will perform
Western European music
of the 16th-21st centuries
for a capella choir.

18+

Nocturnal enigma concerts at the Perm Art Gallery are one of the Diaghilev Festival traditions that define its atmosphere. Under the gallery dome amidst Permian gods — the unique wooden sculptures — music sounds: what kind of music it is becomes known only after the programme has been performed. In the meantime, the twilight in the hall gradually gives way to light, and immediately after the concert the audience can come out on the Kama River bank to meet the dawn.
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Soldatov Palace of Culture

On the programme:

Part I
 
Georg Friedrich Handel (1685–1759)
Overture to the oratorio "Messiah", HWV 56 (1741)
 
“Comfort ye, comfort ye my people”, an aria from the oratorio "Messiah"
Soloist: Sergey Godin
 
“Every valley shall be exalted”, an aria from the oratorio "Messiah"
Soloist: Sergey Godin
 
“But who may abide the day of His coming”, an aria from the oratorio "Messiah"
Soloist: Dmitry Sinkovsky
 
“No, piu sotfrir non voglio” ("No, I don't want to suffer anymore"), Lisaura's aria from the opera "Alessandro", HWV 21 (1726)
Soloist: Dilyara Idrisova
 
Antonio Caldara (1670–1736)
“Come raggio di sole” ("See the sun's clear rays"), an aria from the opera "La costanza in amore vince l'inganno" ("Constancy in Love Triumphs over Wickedness") (1710)
Soloist: Konstantin Suchkov
 
Riccardo Brosci (1698–1756)
“Qual guerriero in campo armato” ("Like a warrior armed in battle"), Darius's aria from the opera "Idaspe" (1730)
Soloist: Yana Dyakova
 
Antonio Vivaldi (1678–1741)
Concerto for violin, organ, strings and basso continuo in D minor, RV541
Allegro
Grave
Allegro
Soloists:
Kristina Traulko, violin
Fyodor Stroganov, harpsichord and organ
 
Georg Friedrich Handel
“Piangi pur” ("Cry if you want"), Araspe's aria from the opera "Tolomeo, re d'Egitto" ("Ptolemy, King of Egypt"), HWV 25 (1728)
Soloist: Konstantin Suchkov
 
"Ah! Think what ills", Iole's aria from the oratorio "Hercules", HWV 60 (1745)
Soloist: Dilyara Idrisova
 
"Where shall I fly?", Deyanira's aria from the oratorio "Hercules"
Soloist: Yana Dyakova
 
“Dove sei, amato bene?” ("Where are you, my beloved?"), Bertarido's aria from the opera "Rodelinda, regina de' Longobardi" ("Rodelinda, Queen of the Lombards"), HWV 19 (1725)
Soloist: Dmitry Sinkovsky
 
Part II
 
Georg Friedrich Handel
“É un folle, é un vile affetto” ("Mad, despicable passion"), Oronte's aria from the opera "Alcina", HWV 34 (1735)
Soloist: Sergey Godin
 
“Credele al mio dolore” ("Believe me that I suffer"), Morgana's aria from the opera "Alcina" Soloist: Dilyara Idrisova
 
“Un momento di contento” ("A moment of happiness"), Oronte's aria from the opera "Alcina"
Soloist: Sergey Godin
 
Francesco Durante (1684–1755)
“Vergin, tutt'amor” ("Virgin, full of love"), vocalise No. 128 from the collection "Solfeges d'Italie" (1772), with text and basso continuo published in "Echos d'Italie", vol.6 (1874)
Soloist: Konstantin Suchkov
 
Giovanni Battista Pergolesi (1710–1736)
“Splenda per voi sereno” ("I shine serenely for you"), Sabina's aria from the opera "Adriano in Siria" ("Hadrian in Syria"), P.140 (1734)
Soloist: Dilyara Idrisova
 
Antonio Vivaldi
Concerto for two violins, cello and strings in D minor, Op. 3, No. 11 from the collection "L'estro armonico" ("The Harmonic Inspiration"), RV 565 (1711)
Allegro
Adagio e spiccato
Allegro (fuga)
Largo e spiccato
Allegro
Soloists:
Kristina Traulko, violin
Igor Bobovich, cello
 
“Armatae face et anguibus” ("Armed with torches and serpents"), Vagaus's aria from the oratorio "Juditha triumphans" ("Triumphant Judith"), RV 644 (1716)
Soloist: Yana Dyakova
 
“Se il cor guerriero” ("If your warlike heart"), Tito's aria from the opera "Tito Manlio", RV 778 (1719)
Soloist: Konstantin Suchkov
 
“Agitata da due venti” ("Agitated by two winds"), Constanza's aria from the opera "Griselda", RV 718 (1735)
Soloist: Yana Dyakova

La Voce Strumentale Ensemble
Conductor — Dmitry Sinkovsky

Soloists:
Dmitry Sinkovsky, countertenor
Dilyara Idrisova, soprano
Yana Dyakova, mezzo-soprano
Sergey Godin, tenor
Konstantin Suchkov, baritone
 
Kristina Traulko, violin
Igor Bobovich, cello
Fyodor Stroganov, harpsichord
 
Duration is 2 hours

12+

The "Baroque Gala" does not attempt to cover the entire century and a half era in one evening. The concert programme offers us just one, but an extremely important perspective: an insight into the Italian branch of the High Baroque and its two main achievements — opera seria and instrumental concert style.
Opera, or melodramma seria, was a moralistic, sublime, and cruel art. In its plots there acted rulers, gods, and heroes, love conflicted with honour and duty, and virtue was always rewarded. In the first half of the 18th century, such operas were staged all over Europe, from London to Lisbon and St. Petersburg — almost exclusively for the entertainment of a narrow circle of the highest nobility. Monarchs competed with each other in the wealth and luxury of their court theatrical productions. Star performers — singers, castrati and prima donnas, earned as much as the Hollywood actors, and commoners, whose taxes, labour, and sometimes blood paid for all this splendour, happened to beat famous artists when they met them in the streets.

Virtuosos encouraged composers to write music that was increasingly sophisticated technically; in some arias, vocal coloratura would not fall short of the frantic sound cascades of violin parts in complexity. The singers also were required to be able to improvise. Changing the melody when repeating it, showing off in cadences — all this was and still is a model of vocal prowess and one of the main subjects for the listener of baroque music. The soloist in the opera was obliged to show a wide range of emotions, for which the composer provided him with a proper number of arias in various moods — fury, heroic pathos, love lyrics, sorrow, and exhilaration. As a result, three-part arias da capo (almost all the numbers in the concert are of this type) turned out to be the most important vocal form of the time; composers of Handel's or Scarlatti's level composed more than a thousand such arias each in the course of their career.

A German who spent most of his life in England, Handel was at the same time one of the major representatives of the Italian style, and his works naturally occupy the central place in the evening's programme. Arias from his operas were written during the triumphant London period, when a superstar trio — castrato Senesino, Francesca Cuzzoni, and Faustina Bordoni sang in the performances of the Royal Academy of Music headed by Handel. These give way to arias from English-language oratorios written later, when Italian opera in England went out of fashion and was cast into oblivion for a couple of centuries. Its style and methods, however, continued to live in a new guise — in the aria of Deyanira from the oratorio "Hercules", Handel transforms the da capo form into a dramatic scene and anticipates the scenes of madness from the bel canto operas of the 19th century.

Besides arias, the only purely instrumental compositions in the programme also belong to Antonio Vivaldi. Among them there is a concert from the collection "L'estro armonico" — perhaps the most influential collection of instrumental music in the 18th century. And next to them there are the arias of the composers of "the second rate", whose music, in fact, is no weaker than the music of recognized stars: its harmonic experiments are no less bold, the vocal parts are no less puzzling, and the orchestra sounds with the same lyrical or wrathful force. Italian music is direct and sensual; it resists distanced listening and irresistibly draws us into its emotional orbit. Perhaps this is where the secret of its popularity is hidden, the popularity that is not ceasing even now, 300 years later.
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