Tchaikovsky 5

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...

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...

Best of Tchaikovsky

Best of Tchaikovsky

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

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.

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.

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.