Details
Royal Festival Hall
Southbank Centre
Belvedere Rd
London
SE1 8XX
England
Programme
Anatoly Lyadov – Kikimora, Op.63
Pyotr Tchaikovsky – Violin Concerto, Op.35
Dmitry Shostakovich – Symphony no.10 in E minor, Op.93
Performers
Yuri Temirkanov – Conductor
Maxim Vengerov – Violin
St Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra
Programme Note
Repertoire to stir the soul and musicians with the magic touch - the best of Russia comes to Southbank Centre.
Big tunes and rich intensity fill this programme of classics performed by the St Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra, Russia's oldest orchestra, with conductor Yuri Temirkanov and virtuoso violinist Maxim Vengerov.
Consistently voted an audience favourite, Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto - a deeply felt work full of melodic vitality, soul and virtuosic brilliance - is performed by Maxim Vengerov, an artist once again thrilling audiences following his sabbatical.
Equally as passionate, but presenting another view of Russia, is Shostakovich's Symphony No.10. Premiered immediately following the death of Soviet dictator Stalin by the St Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra (then Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra), the work has a cinematic quality - a musical journey presented in wide screen. From the turbulent first movement, to the show-stopping crescendo of the last, it travels through a range of emotions including moments of still beauty, satire and violence.
The concert opens with Lyadov's atmospheric tone poem Kikimora. A work showing exceptional flair for orchestral colour, it is inspired by the legend of the Russian house spirit that causes mischief.