Stéphane Denève conducts the Orchestra of the National Academy of Santa Cecilia and the American violinist Hilary Hahn for a concert including three masterpieces of classical music: the Suite Ma mère l'Oye by Maurice Ravel, the Concert n.1 by Sergej Sergeevič Prokof 'ev and Pëtr Il'ič Čajkovskij's Symphony No.4.
Originally composed of five pieces for four-handed piano in 1910 and after transcribed for orchestra, Maurice Ravel's Suite is inspired by illustrations from a children's storybook (hence the subtitle Cinq pièces enfantines). Characterized by a very refined orchestral writing, the Suite is rather simple from a technical point of view, but has the same formal rigor as the more complex works. The childhood evoked by Ravel in Ma mère l'Oye is that of serene, fantastic, fairytale-like but, at the same time, also that of childish fears and anxieties, frightened by the threats of the outside world.
Sergej Prokof’ev's Concert No.1 in D major is the first of two violin concertos by the great Russian composer; written between 1916 and 1917, it was performed for the first time only several years after the composition, in 1923. Its peculiarity lies in the fact that the articulation of the movements is opposite to the traditional one, as the concert begins and ends with slow times, while in the center there is a short fast movement. It is an elegant concert, with broad melodic connotations and an intimate lyricism. Symphony No.4 by Pëtr Il'ič Tchaikovsky was composed between 1877 and 1878 and is divided into four movements; as the Russian composer explained in his letters, the work has as its central theme the mysterious nature of fate that often hinders human happiness.
Stéphane Denève, internationally recognized for the exceptional quality of his concerts, is the conductor of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra and Hilary Hahn, universally regarded as a great violinist, has won three Grammy Awards and numerous others.
Photo credits: courtesy of National Academy of Santa Cecilia official site
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