Season Closing Concert

Romeo and Juliet, the fantasy-overture first composed in 1870 by PYOTR ILYICH TCHAIKOVSKY (1840–1893), took little more than seven weeks to complete. Milij Balakirev, who at the time resided in Moscow, was the catalytic power behind the composition and provided a considerable amount of advice. The premiere took place on the 16^th March 1870 in Moscow, under the baton of Nikolaj Rubinstein, without much success. With further input from Balakirev, Tchaikovsky rewrote the overture and the final version dates from 1880.  The overture is formed around a sonata structure and the themes used are a characterisation of the main subjects of Shakespeare’s drama. In a way, the composition is a psychological study converted into music. The composition opens with the festive theme of Friar Laurence, followed by a portrayal of the conflict between the Capulets and the Montagues. Then comes the love scene between Romeo and Juliet and finally, their tragic death.

In the work of NIKOLAJ RIMSKIJ-KORSAKOV (1844–1908), a fundamental source of inspiration, and something within which he felt a national character, was folk music. That said, his music was also infiltrated by various exoticisms, bringing his listeners new aural experiences. Along with Russian sources he was also inspired by music from Serbia, Slovenia and songs from Naples. An ‘oriental’ atmosphere is notable in his famous Sheherazade. Capriccio espagnol, Op. 34 was based on drafts originally intended for a fantasy for violin and orchestra. The composition consists of five movements, heard as one musical whole. The first and third parts are a morning song, titled Alborada. The movements both use rhythms typical of the ‘Alborada’ dance. The second movement, Variazioni, begins with a horn melody, which then goes through numerous variations shared by the orchestra. A drum roll and horn, trumpet and solo violin recitative begin the fourth movement whilst the final movement - Fandango asturiano – is a dance in both 3/4 and 6/8 tempo, which originated in Arabia and is thought to have come to Spain in the 18^th century.    

MAURICE RAVEL (1875–1937) was the son of a Basque mother and as such, Spanish melodies were close to his heart. He applied them in the opera L‘ heure espagnole, the concert rhapsody Tzigane, his songs, Rhapsodie espagnole, the famous Bolero, and in the five-part cycle Mirroirs for piano from the years 1904–1905, of which two parts were later arranged for orchestra. The orchestration of the Alborada del gracioso dates from 1918. ‘Alborada’ (the opposite of the evening song), was traditionally sung by suitors under the windows of their valentines, however in this case Ravel was playing an ironic joke by setting a light-hearted motif against a dreamily solemn one, and a tender motif against an almost brutally aggressive one.

RICHARD WAGNER (1813–1883) wrote the opera Tannhäuser - as he himself admitted - after his chance finding of two legends: ‘Venus’ Mountain’ and ‘The Contest of Singers at Wartburg’. Tannhäuser was composed partly during his stay in the Teplice spa, Bohemia, whilst the first act was finished at his new residence in Dresden in January 1844. The premiere took place in the Court Theatre in Dresden on the 19th October 1845. However, this was not the final version of the opera, as Wagner immediately began making changes after the first performance and almost every performance afterwards was somewhat altered. The final version was composed for a performance in Paris in 1860. For the Parisian audience a ballet scene was required - without this, a production in Paris was unimaginable. Hence the additional choreography of the ‘Bacchanale’ scene on the Venus Mountain.

The opera Lohengrin is another step in the development of Wagner’s concept of a thoroughly integrated musical-drama, where even less arias than in Tannhäuser can stand alone. The third-act overture is nowadays often played at weddings, just like the ’Wedding March‘ by Felix Mendessohn Bartholdy from his scenic music ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’. The work on Lohengrin was also connected with Bohemia; the main outline was completed in Marienbad, in the summer of 1845. The premiere took place in the Grand Duke‘s Court Theatre in Weimer, with Franz Liszt conducting. Tannhäuser and Lohengrin were the first two of Wagner’s opera heard in Prague. Tannhäuser was performed in the Estates Theatre on the 25^th November 1850 and Lohengrin on the 23rd February 1856, both under the batton of František Škroup.

ALEXANDER PORFIRYEVICH BORODIN (1833–1887) began composing operas in 1869, the first of which was inspired by a legend about Prince Igor. Borodin was a doctor and a chemist by profession; his music making was practised alongside his work commitments. Consequently his Prince Igoropera was left unfinished even after twenty years.  It was premiered after his death, in the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg on the 4th November 1890 in a version edited and completed by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov and Alexander Glazunov.

Borodinprepared The Polovtsian Dances (originally from the opera Prince Igor) for a performance in 1879 conducted by Korsakov. In the opera the Polovtsian Dances form a festive scene in which dancers pay tribute to the Khan through dancing and singing. Now a staple in the orchestral repertoire, the dances are a popular and impressive stand-alone piece and have inspired many choreographers.