Tchaikovsky and Shostakovich

Tchaikovsky and Shostakovich

Wolfgang Emanuel Schmidt unfortunately had to cancel his participation in the two concerts due to an injury. We are pleased that we were able to secure Ivan Karizna as the soloist. Tchaikovsky was not known for self-praise, but in his Sixth Symphony he did not hold back, considering it highly successful - a judgment that can definitely be agreed upon today. It is a compositional masterpiece and at the same time so peculiar and unique. Tchaikovsky's brother Modest gave it the nickname "Pathétique". Indeed, it is pathetic. More so, the Sixth is tragic, dramatic, gripping, ominous. And it is Tchaikovsky's swan song: Nine days after the premiere, he died of cholera under circumstances that remain unclear to this day.

Klaus Mäkelä Pyotr Tchaikovsky Dmitri Shostakovich

“I composed the Serenade from a natural impulse, something deep from within, and therefore I dare to believe that it is not free from containing something truly valuable,” Pyotr Tchaikovsky wrote to his supporter Nadezhda von Mack during the work with Serenade for Strings in the fall of 1880. When the piece was finished some weeks later, he wrote: “I just love this serenade so terribly, and long for it to see the light of day as soon as possible.” The wish came true - during a visit to Moscow, an orchestra surprised him by playing it at a private concert.The first movement is a tribute to Mozart, according to Tchaikovsky an imitation of his style. The second movement is a waltz reminiscent of the composer’s famous waltzes from The Nutcracker and The Swan Lake. After an elegiac third movement, he uses Russian folk tunes in the finale, “Tema russo.”In 1955, Dmitri Shostakovich planned to write a symphony for the 50th anniversary of the Russian Revolution of 1905. Symphony No. 11 was not ready until the 40th anniversary of the 1917 Russian Revolution in 1957, but the symphony was still named “The Year 1905”.On the surface, the symphony is in line with the authorities’ view. Still, Shostakovich’s use of freedom songs from the prison gave many associations to current events: the composer is said to have suggested that the music was a response to the Soviet Union’s brutal invasion of Hungary in 1956.The symphony opens with the eerie atmosphere in front of the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg on the eve of the revolution. The second movement describes the brutal massacre on “the bloody Sunday”. The third movement is based on a revolutionary mournful march, while the powerful final movement ambiguously celebrates the revolution’s future triumph.

Sibelius and Tchaikovsky

Sibelius's violin concerto is now the most performed of all violin concertos from the 20th century. Yet its musical language belongs to the late 19th century, and the music is warm and lyrical, dramatic and melancholic. Sibelius, himself a violinist, possibly wrote the concerto he himself would have wanted to play – albeit on a technical level far beyond his own. In this way, the violin concerto can be seen as a farewell to the youthful dreams of a career as a violin virtuoso. It is among the more challenging in the genre, as many violinists have attested.Taking on the challenge is the young award-winning violinist Maria Ioudenitch. In 2021, she won first prize in the prestigious Ysaÿe International Music Competition and the same year also the Tibor Varga International Violin Competition. Maria Ioudenitch was born in Russia but moved to the USA with her family at the age of two.Tchaikovsky composed his fifth symphony during a few summer months in 1888. He had complained about a lack of inspiration in the spring: "Am I burned out? No ideas, no desire?" But the fifth became a vital, emotionally charged, and in many respects brilliant symphony. It premiered under the composer's direction at the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg in November of the same year.The concert opens with the Swedish composer Andrea Tarrodis's Liguria, music that takes us on a journey between five small fishing villages clinging to the cliffs along Italy's northwest coast.Read more about chief conductor Ryan Bancroft

Ravel and Tchaikovsky

Snow sparkles in the pale winter sun, a horse-drawn sleigh glides through a light birch forest. Ice flowers grow on the window pane, while the samovar boils in the room. Tchaikovsky, with his First Symphony, makes a atmospheric declaration of love to the famous-infamous Russian winter with all its manifestations. In addition, two completely different but equally fascinating piano concertos are heard: Prokofiev's First Piano Concerto bursts with energy and sophistication. It is a youthful work full of spirit and shows Prokofiev as a true virtuoso of the piano. On the other hand, Ravel's Piano Concerto "for the left hand" is characterized by darker tones and was written for the pianist Paul Wittgenstein, who lost his right hand in World War I. It is so cleverly composed that as a listener, one does not realize that in this almost 20-minute concert, piano and orchestra only play together for six minutes. A challenge for our Artist in Residence, who once again can demonstrate the full range of his abilities.

Ravel and Tchaikovsky

Snow sparkles in the pale winter sun, a horse-drawn sleigh glides through a light birch forest. Ice flowers grow on the window pane, while the samovar boils in the room. Tchaikovsky, with his First Symphony, makes a atmospheric declaration of love to the famous-infamous Russian winter with all its manifestations. In addition, two completely different but equally fascinating piano concertos are heard: Prokofiev's First Piano Concerto bursts with energy and sophistication. It is a youthful work full of spirit and shows Prokofiev as a true virtuoso of the piano. On the other hand, Ravel's Piano Concerto "for the left hand" is characterized by darker tones and was written for the pianist Paul Wittgenstein, who lost his right hand in World War I. It is so cleverly composed that as a listener, one does not realize that in this almost 20-minute concert, piano and orchestra only play together for six minutes. A challenge for our Artist in Residence, who once again can demonstrate the full range of his abilities.

Kentridge and Shostakovich

Under the direction of Michael Sanderling, Dmitri Shostakovich's Tenth Symphony will be performed on the Dresden Memorial Day, a work deeply influenced by the experiences and traumas of the Stalin era. In it, Shostakovich processes darkness, pain, and hope that wrestle with each other in a very unique way. South African artist William Kentridge has created a film titled "Oh To Believe in Another World" for this piece, which interprets Shostakovich's symphony in a fascinating manner. With his characteristic collages, animations, and drawings, Kentridge takes a poetic look at the themes of loss and longing that resonate in the music. Music and film merge into a unique work of art that connects remembrance and art, while also forming a final accent of the Kentridge focus of the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden 2025 (with exhibitions at the Albertinum, Kupferstich-Kabinett, and in the Puppet Theater Collection).

Kentridge and Shostakovich

Tchaikovsky

Unplayable? Indeed, the best violinists 150 years ago thought that Tchaikovsky's newly composed violin concerto was far too difficult, that it could not be played at all. When someone finally dared to perform it, the piece was torn apart by critics. It is hard to believe when one hears it today in all its beauty and brilliance in the concert hall. Here, it is performed by Artist in Residence Augustin Hadelich, who makes even the most difficult passages seem as if they could be played effortlessly. For those who are not already in a festive mood, Tchaikovsky's ballet music "The Nutcracker" will surely put them in the Christmas spirit - and evoke happy memories of childhood, Christmas scents, and candlelight...

Tchaikovsky

Unplayable? Indeed, the best violinists 150 years ago thought that Tchaikovsky's newly composed violin concerto was far too difficult, that it could not be played at all. When someone finally dared to perform it, the piece was torn apart by critics. It is hard to believe when one hears it today in all its beauty and brilliance in the concert hall. Here, it is performed by Artist in Residence Augustin Hadelich, who makes even the most difficult passages seem as if they could be played effortlessly. For those who are not already in a festive mood, Tchaikovsky's ballet music "The Nutcracker" will surely put them in the Christmas spirit - and evoke happy memories of childhood, Christmas scents, and candlelight...