Tchaikovsky, pursued by passion, and Schnittke, the holy sinner – a 19th-century romantic and a 20th-century postmodernist.
From Schnittke we will hear his first Concerto Grosso – an allusion to Baroque-era music, giving the soloists plenty to revel in and the orchestra room to run riot, bringing together the lyrical, the ironic, the tragic and the resigned.
From Tchaikovsky we will hear his Sixth Symphony, often known as the “Pathétique”. It is Tchaikovsky’s last completed work, and its premiere took place just a week and a half before the composer’s death. The assumptions of the composer’s relatives and friends suggest the symphony may be autobiographical. This is one of the rare cases where every musical theme in the symphony is a hit, and these melodies are known even to those far removed from classical music.
Vladimir Fedoseyev is a grand master of the Russian school of symphonic conducting, a living legend. Artistic director and principal conductor of the Tchaikovsky Grand Symphony Orchestra (since 1974), principal guest conductor of the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra (since 2000), permanent guest conductor at the Zurich Opera House (since 1997), and of the Zurich Tonhalle(since 2000). Fedoseyev’s greatest achievements include productions of operas by Berlioz, Tchaikovsky, Janáček, Mussorgsky, Rimsky-Korsakov, Shostakovich and Verdi in Vienna, Paris, Zurich, Milan, Bregenz, Florence and elsewhere. Under the maestro’s direction complete symphony cycles of Beethoven, Brahms and Shostakovich have been recorded, and he has also recorded the symphonies of Tchaikovsky, Mahler and Taneyev, as well as operas by Dargomyzhsky and Rimsky-Korsakov. Particularly esteemed by critics and audiences alike is Fedoseyev’s recording of Mussorgsky’s opera “Boris Godunov”. For the season-opening concert with LNSO, the maestro received the Grand Music Award in 2013. Vladimir Fedoseyev holds his collaboration with LNSO in high regard, and in recent seasons the orchestra has had wonderful opportunities to appreciate the maestro’s measured, wise, fascinating and unforgettable interpretations on several occasions: in May 2016 Fedoseyev conducted LNSO’s season-closing concert with Scriabin’s Third Symphony, while in February 2018 we admired the maestro’s reading of Shostakovich’s Tenth Symphony.
At 18.18 in the Munich Hall there will be a Pre-Concert Talk, focusing on Alfred Schnittke’s postmodernism, the connection between the First Concerto Grosso and Gidon Kremer, and Pyotr Tchaikovsky’s Sixth Symphony as a passion, according to Marina Ritzarev’s theory. Orests Silabriedis’s guest will be conductor and composer Andris Vecumnieks.
The concert programme is available HERE.
Darja Smirnova – assistant section principal
Sandis Šteinbergs – Section Principal
Vladimir Fedoseyev