CONCERTS 2026 | SYMPHONY
ANDRIS POGA
RACHMANINOV Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor, Op. 18
ŠOSTAKOVIČ Symphony No. 4 in C minor, Op. 43
Director
Andris Poga
Soloist – Piano
Andrej Korobeinikov
Program
Sergei Vasil’evič Rachmaninov
Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor, Op. 18
For Sergei Rachmaninov, the Second Piano Concerto was the beginning of a new life after a deep creative crisis. By the end of the 19th century, the composer had experienced the collapse of his First Symphony in St. Petersburg. Soon after, the First Piano Concerto presented in London also proved a failure. Disappointed and convinced that he could no longer compose, Rachmaninov fell into an acute depression that pushed him toward the care of Dr. Nicolaj Dahl, an expert in hypnotic techniques. From that treatment came an artistic rebirth, translated into the
Dmitry Dmitrievič Šostakovič
Symphony No. 4 in C minor, Op. 43
Shakespeare’s Sonnet 66 seems to anticipate the fate of Šostakovič, “the genius gagged by authority.” A fine artist, driven by a desire for independence and originality, he found himself facing the brutal power of Stalin and his paranoid, devouring dictatorship, which despised works of art not accessible to the general public, preferring to turn artists into propaganda tools, advertisers of his image and curators of the cult of his person. The Fourth Symphony runs on this cataclysm: Šostakovič wrote it in the two years that changed his life, from 1934 to 1936, in the span of time that took him from the resounding success of A Lady Macbeth of the Mcensk District to its censorship, sanctioned in the pages of “Pravda.” For this reason he chose to keep this symphonic masterpiece in the drawer, appearing only in 1961, eight years after Stalin’s death.
Orchestra of the Teatro Comunale di Bologna
45 min. before the start of the concert, the audience is invited to an in-depth discussion of the program by Luca Baccolini, which will be held on the lower floor of the Theater.
Luca Baccolini
journalist, music popularizer and writer, works with the Bologna editorial office of Repubblica and is on the editorial staff of the monthly Classic Voice. For Newton Compton he has published ten books on the history of Bologna. He is the author of theatrical subjects and collaborates as an essayist and popularizer with the most important Italian lyrical symphonic institutions.
SECTOR 1
Full: €45
Over65: €35
Reduced30-35: €30
U30: €25
SECTOR 2
Full: 40€
Over65: 30€
Reduced30-35: 25€
U30: 20€
SECTOR 3
Full: 35€
Over65: 25€
Reduced30-35: 20€
U30: 15€
SECTOR 4
Full: €15
Tickets at €10 for all students enrolled at the University of Bologna, the Academy of Fine Arts of Bologna and the G.B. Martini Conservatory of Music for concerts of the 2026 Symphonic Season.
On sale only during Ticket Office presale hours (Tuesday to Friday from 12 to 6 p.m. and Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.), from one week before the concert, by presenting university badge and self-certification of enrollment for the current year.
This post is also available in: Italiano (Italian)