Concertzender Live

Today, we hear two concerts played in the Main Hall of the Concertgebouw, with music of two great composers from the 20^th century. Like in the last episode, again Russian composers are highlighted. Recording engineer for both concerts was Kees Bijl. The first concert took place on 27 September 1997, and was given by the Kirov Opera Orchestra, now known by the name Mariinsky Orchestra. The artistic leader of this orchestra and also chief conductor is Valery Gergiev. The concert begins with music of Aleksandr Skrjabin: Le poème de l’extase. This is a symphonic poem written between 1905 and 1908, and inspired by Skrjabin’s theosophic ideas.

A musical work of which the premiere in Paris in 1913 led to upheaval was Le Sacré du Printemps of Igor Stravinsky. In fact it was mainly the modern ballet that caused the upheaval. Already in the first minute, there was a punch-up among the audience, including artists such as Jean Cocteau, Gertrude Stein and Maurice Ravel. But also in the musical department the work was revolutionary. The ballet takes place in a prehistoric world, in which a young virgin is chosen to dance herself to death as a sacrifice to the sun god. The work consists of two parts: Adoration of the earth and The sacrifice.

The second concert on the programme took place on 31 August 1996, also in the Concertgebouw. This time, you hear the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Daniel Harding. The first piece that is played is the violin concerto of Jean Sibelius with soloist Sarah Chang. This work is very virtuoso as you probably know, but the original version was even more virtuoso. That was the reason that the premiere was a big flop; it was simply too difficult, and Sibelius finished the piece only late, giving the soloist little time to prepare himself. Fortunately Sibelius revised it, and it is this version you will hear in this episode of the programme.

Next, more modern music of Messiaen is on the programme. For Messiaen, pre-eminently Roman Catholic, religion was very important. Besides, he often incorporated birdsong in his music, which he recorded in nature. Messiaen was a musical innovator in the melodic and rhythmic respect. You will hear Le tombeau resplendissant. And, as an encore you will hear the Suite from ‘The Miraculous Mandarin’ of Béla Bartók, from the same concert.