FULL RUSSIA IN THE EYES OF COMPOSERS OF THE XX CENTURY Tomsk 2022 Ekaterina Clemens, Evgeny Steinmiller
Information on the Performance
- Work Title: RUSSIA IN THE EYES OF COMPOSERS OF THE XX CENTURY
- Composer: various
- Libretto: various Libretto Text, Libretto Index
- Venue & Opera Company: Tomsk State Philharmony, Russia
- Recorded: May 29, 2022
- Type: Staged Opera Live
- Singers: Ekaterina Clemens, Evgeny Steinmiller
- Conductor: NEMIROVICH-DANCHENKO
- Orchestra: TOMSK ACADEMIC SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
- Stage Director:
- Costume Designer:
Information about the Recording
- Published by: Tomsk State Philharmony
- Date Published: 2023
- Format: Streaming
- Quality Video: 3 Audio:3
- Subtitles: nosubs
- Video Recording from: YouTube FULL VIDEO
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON THIS PERFORMANCE
PROGRAM:
Vlasov. Romance “To the Fountain of the Bakhchisarai Palace”
Dunayevsky. Pepita’s song from the operetta “Free Wind”
Myaskovsky. Moderato for string orchestra
Sviridov. Small triptych for large symphony orchestra
Sviridov. Romances for voice and orchestra to the words of Russian poets (Pushkin, Yesenin, Blok)
Stravinsky. Suite from the ballet “Pulcinella” (excerpts)
Schnittke. Music for the play “Revizskaya Tale” (fragments)
Shostakovich. Two romances from the magazine “Crocodile” (Instrumentation for orchestra – Denis Nemirovich-Danchenko)
The music of Igor Stravinsky, Nikolai Myaskovsky, Alfred Schnittke, Georgy Sviridov, Dmitri Shostakovich and Isaac Dunayevsky is a mirror of Russia and a mirror of the 20th century. Maestro Denis Nemirovich-Danchenko included in the concert program the works of these contemporary composers, each of which captures the past tense in its own way.
Stravinsky’s mirror reflects the search for a new musical language at the beginning of the 20th century. After The Rite of Spring, he was called a “destructive modernist”. The composer gained worldwide fame thanks to the ballets “Russian Seasons” by Sergei Diaghilev, which glorified Russia and became its symbol. Despite the fact that the suite for the ballet Pulcinella is based on the Italian commedia dell’arte and music by G. Pergolesi, the Russian view of art is noticeable in Stravinsky’s work.
Moderato for string orchestra by Nikolai Myaskovsky is 6 minutes of the most beautiful music for chamber orchestra written in the middle of the 20th century. The personality of the composer largely determined the nature of his music, including opus 46 bis. He was called “the artistic conscience of our music” (Asafiev). The same Boris Asafiev wrote that Myaskovsky “reflects life not through the pathos and feelings of the organized masses, but through the prism of personal speculation.” To see today’s Russia in the mirror of Myaskovsky’s music is the task that the conductor offers the public.
The genius of Dmitri Shostakovich, on the one hand, is entirely shaped by the history of the 20th century, and on the other hand, his music is the history of the 20th century. It is impossible to imagine the past century without it. The satirical romances written by the composer on the texts from the magazine “Crocodile” are a “distorting mirror”, but it also reflected the characteristic signs of the time.
Completely different in color and tone, Russia will appear in the musical mirror of Georgy Sviridov. The main means of expression for him was vocal music, music associated with the word. Because, according to him, the synthesis of music and words contains the truth. The romances he wrote to the verses of Pushkin, Yesenin and Blok are a declaration of love for Russia, this is pain for her. But in the “Little Triptych”, which maestro Nemirovich-Danchenko also included in the program, the composer deviated from his rule – to associate music with the word, this is one of the few works by Sviridov for a symphony orchestra.
In the work of Alfred Schnittke, the youngest contemporary of Stravinsky, the audience will again meet with the musical avant-garde of the 20th century, but already in the second half of the century. It was precisely as an innovator in music that the director, artistic director of the Taganka Theater, Yuri Lyubimov, turned to the composer to write music for his play “Revizskaya Tale” based on the works of Gogol. The premiere took place in 1978, according to the director, the music filled the space, reflected the time of the action and even replaced the scenery.
But perhaps the most beloved and popular among many generations of Soviet people was the music of Iosif Dunayevsky – everyone knew it, they sang it, they loved and still love it. Pepita’s song from the operetta “Free Wind” will give a light breath to the classics of the twentieth century.