October 6, 2022 | Svetlanov Hall of the MIPAC
Subscription Series “Rachmaninoff: Complete concertos and symphonies (to the 150th Anniversary)”
Soloist – Philipp Kopachevsky, piano
Conductor – Vladimir Spivakov
Rachmaninoff. Concerto No. 4 for piano and orchestra in G minor, Op. 40
Rachmaninoff. Rhapsody on a theme by Paganini for piano and orchestra, Op. 43
Rachmaninoff. Symphonic Dances, Op. 45
Vladimir Spivakov and the National Philharmonic Orchestra of Russia are commencing a four-concert series dedicated to Sergei Rachmaninoff’s 150th birthday anniversary, which will encompass all his piano concertos and symphonies. “He is one of the most beloved composers in the world now, and for me personally – one of guide stars. - Vladimir Spivakov says. - Whenever I turn to Rachmaninoff's music it goes deep to my heart. You can always find in his music something you have not heard or seen previously, it is like a bottomless abyss. He used to be underrated as a composer, not appreciated as a conductor, while acclaimed only as a brilliant outstanding piano player. Nowadays there is coming the understanding that Rachmaninoff is a Cosmos, magnificent and full of endless mysteries which are yet to be discovered to people.”
The composer's works have been part of Spivakov's regular repertoire both in concert halls and in recordings. With the National Philharmonic Orchestra of Russia he has recorded the Three Russian Songs, “Spring” Cantata, “The Bells” Poem, The Symphonic Dances, all piano concertos and symphonies. The Symphony CDs are to be released on the 150th anniversary of Rachmaninoff's birthday. The memorial date is also to be reflected in the NPR's new subscription series at the Moscow Performing Arts Center in the 2022/2023 season.
The first concert of the series will feature works of the composer’s later period, written after he had left Russia: "Rhapsody on a theme of Paganini" and the Fourth Piano Concerto (soloist Philipp Kopachevsky) and also "The Symphonic Dances" which Vladimir Spivakov claims to be the author’s "spiritual will". Disclosing the tonal symbols in these masterworks, he will depict the most important for Rachmaninoff lines of love and death going in parallel or crossing each other in an abrupt way.
“The Symphonic Dances is the last composition by the Russian great genius, which he considered himself to be the best and the dearest to his heart. It was written in emigration, but the composer never lost his spiritual connection with his Motherland. It is quite astonishing though that the essentially-Russian-in-tone theme in the second movement was given to saxophone (it is a kind of convergence in music). The Symphonic Dances end by a tom tom beat, marked by a fermata sign in the score, which means a prolonged sound. In the West, however, it is often omitted for its meaning is elusive. I do think that it implies a fleeting soul.” (Vladimir Spivakov)