Tugan Sokhiev/István Várdai - Šostakóvič/Rimskij-Korsakov

The 2024-2025 Concert season of the Auditorium Parco della Musica Ennio Morricone, with the Orchestra of the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia conducted by Tugan Sokhiev, presents a tribute to two great Russian composers such as Dmitrij Shostakóvič - on the fiftieth anniversary of his death - and to Nikolaj Rimskij-Korsakov.

Šostakóvič's two concert pages represent a diametrically opposed vision: on the one hand there is the brilliant style of the Festiva Overture, on the other the meditative and twilight Cello Concert No. 2, which features István Várdai as soloist. The evening ends with the oriental melodies of the Arabian Nights from Shéhérazade by Rimskij-Korsakov.

The (Op. 96) in AFestiva Overture (Op. 96) in A major by Dmitrij Shostakovich, originally conceived and written in 1947 to celebrate 30 years since the Russian Revolution of 1917, was performed only in 1954, for the celebrations of the 37th anniversary, at the Bolshoi Theatre. The Cello Concert No. 2 in G major, op. 126, written in 1966 and performed in Moscow is characterized by a melody crossed by a melancholic and bitter language.

Finally, the symphonic suite composed by Nikolaj Rimskij-Korsakov in 1888, and inspired by One Thousand and One Nights, combines two peculiar characteristics of Rimskij Korsakov's music: brilliant orchestration combined with a particular interest in the East and the exotic. It is considered one of the composer's most popular works.

Photo credits: the Auditorium Parco della Musica Ennio Morricone official site