Dmitry Matvienko Eldbjørg Hemsing Hjalmar Borgstrøm Pyotr Tchaikovsky

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.

Classical Hour Nikolaj Szeps-Znaider Pyotr Tchaikovsky

“The music from this ballet will become one of my best works. The subject is so poetic, so well suited to music, that I was entirely engrossed in composing it, and wrote with an ardor and passion which always results,” wrote Pyotr Tchaikovsky (1841-1893) during the work with Sleeping Beauty.With Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty, and The Nutcracker, Tchaikovsky set a completely new standard for the ballet genre and greatly raised the status of ballet music. Sleeping Beauty premiered in 1890. The Sleeping Beauty Suite, composed after his death, features five orchestral excerpts from the ballet.

Children’s Christmas Concert Antonio Vivaldi John Williams Pyotr Tchaikovsky

True to tradition, the orchestra musicians invite you to a cozy and atmospheric Christmas concert for the whole family. This year’s theme is "Christmas Magic," featuring both traditional songs and modern holiday music. The concert concludes with a grand children’s choir performing John Williams' Somewhere in My Memory from the classic movie Home Alone.Bring the whole family and get into the holiday spirit! One hour before the concert begins, we also welcome you to a Christmas workshop in the foyer.Suitable from 4-5 years and upwards.

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

Best of Tchaikovsky

Best of Tchaikovsky

Nikolaj Szeps-Znaider Ting-Wei Chen Richard Strauss Carl Nielsen Pyotr Tchaikovsky

According to legend, the charming swindler and prankster Till Eulenspiegel lived in the 14th century and is the hero of almost a hundred folk tales. In the tone poem Till Eulenspiegel from 1896, Richard Strauss (1864-1949) cheerfully portrays him with horn and clarinet. Till Eulenspiegel is one of Strauss’ most humorous works, as full of inventions and surprises as the main character. Till dresses up, flirts with the ladies and makes fun of the scholars before he is put on trial and sentenced to death. The ending is ambiguous – does he manage to escape?In 1921, Carl Nielsen (1865-1931) was captivated by a concert with the Copenhagen Wind Quintet. He knew the musicians, and wrote a piece for the quiet in which each one is described with music. He wanted to write one solo concerto for each – he managed two and started with the flutist.“Eventually, the orchestral movement also becomes fuller and more moving, but this does not last long, because the flute cannot deny its nature (...) the composer must therefore adapt to its gentle nature,” Nielsen wrote about the Flute Concerto from 1926, a gentle and cheerful work in which there is a storm in between.“The music from this ballet will become one of my best works. The subject is so poetic, so well suited to music, that I was entirely engrossed in composing it, and wrote with an ardor and passion which always results,” wrote Pyotr Tchaikovsky (1841-1893) during the work with Sleeping Beauty.With Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty, and The Nutcracker, Tchaikovsky set a completely new standard for the ballet genre and greatly raised the status of ballet music. Sleeping Beauty premiered in 1890. The Sleeping Beauty Suite, composed after his death, features five orchestral excerpts from the ballet.

Hahn, Soltani · Nigsch, Tchaikovsky

Măcelaru, Hadelich · Tchaikovsky, Dvořák

Măcelaru, Hadelich · Tchaikovsky, Dvořák