<Translated from Danish automatically>
Odense Koncerthus. In reality, there are probably only about a score of works from Russian classical music that are truly well-known and popular abroad. The two works on the program for this week’s Thursday Concert certainly did not belong among them, but Tchaikovsky’s Third Symphony and, especially, Rachmaninov’s choral work The Bells proved to be quite exciting acquaintances.
Tchaikovsky's Third Symphony stands entirely in the shadow of numbers four, five, and six, which is understandable at first glance. It lacks the emotional intensity and dramatically motivated structure of its successors, and the great melodies that are usually one of Tchaikovsky's trump cards are thinly spread. However, the symphony has a number of features that make it interesting in its own right, such as the five-movement form and the many dance-like sections. The best are probably the last three movements: the slow movement with its typical Tchaikovskian lyricism, the scherzo, and the grand and effective finale. As a whole, however, it is a bit long. The Radio Symphony Orchestra played excellently under the leadership of Alexander Vedernikov, music director of the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow. He is perhaps more the type of a solid conductor than a visionary inspirer, but things were put effectively in place, and the orchestra clearly enjoyed playing with him.
Rachmaninov's The Bells could well lay claim to the title of an overlooked masterpiece. Written to a Russian adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe’s The Bells, it is about bells that, in four different life situations, remind us of eternity.
The music is Rachmaninov at his most inspired. The sound of the bells, with its special composition of overtones, has naturally influenced the music, but beyond that, the range of expression is greater than often found in Rachmaninov, culminating in the funeral music of the final movement.
The Radio Choir, in its most numerous version, sang beautifully and had no trouble cutting through the orchestral sound. As soloists, a true "dream trio" had been found with the lovely-sounding soprano Ekaterina Shcherbachenko and the youthful and lively tenor Roman Shulakov. However, it was the baritone Sergei Leiferkus who took the greatest honors in the final movement, which he dominated with his magnificent voice and waves of authority. Very fine vocal artistry in a work that is heard all too rarely.
Source.
Odense Koncerthus. In reality, there are probably only about a score of works from Russian classical music that are truly well-known and popular abroad. The two works on the program for this week’s Thursday Concert certainly did not belong among them, but Tchaikovsky’s Third Symphony and, especially, Rachmaninov’s choral work The Bells proved to be quite exciting acquaintances.
Tchaikovsky's Third Symphony stands entirely in the shadow of numbers four, five, and six, which is understandable at first glance. It lacks the emotional intensity and dramatically motivated structure of its successors, and the great melodies that are usually one of Tchaikovsky's trump cards are thinly spread. However, the symphony has a number of features that make it interesting in its own right, such as the five-movement form and the many dance-like sections. The best are probably the last three movements: the slow movement with its typical Tchaikovskian lyricism, the scherzo, and the grand and effective finale. As a whole, however, it is a bit long. The Radio Symphony Orchestra played excellently under the leadership of Alexander Vedernikov, music director of the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow. He is perhaps more the type of a solid conductor than a visionary inspirer, but things were put effectively in place, and the orchestra clearly enjoyed playing with him.
Rachmaninov's The Bells could well lay claim to the title of an overlooked masterpiece. Written to a Russian adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe’s The Bells, it is about bells that, in four different life situations, remind us of eternity.
The music is Rachmaninov at his most inspired. The sound of the bells, with its special composition of overtones, has naturally influenced the music, but beyond that, the range of expression is greater than often found in Rachmaninov, culminating in the funeral music of the final movement.
The Radio Choir, in its most numerous version, sang beautifully and had no trouble cutting through the orchestral sound. As soloists, a true "dream trio" had been found with the lovely-sounding soprano Ekaterina Shcherbachenko and the youthful and lively tenor Roman Shulakov. However, it was the baritone Sergei Leiferkus who took the greatest honors in the final movement, which he dominated with his magnificent voice and waves of authority. Very fine vocal artistry in a work that is heard all too rarely.
Source.
From the Russian Cultural Treasury. Overlooked works by Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninov are quite exciting acquaintances
Mikael GARNES, Kristeligt Dagblad, September 29, 2007
