Awarded the prestigious Abbiati Award by the Italian Music Critics Association for his “accomplished interpretative maturity, the extent and the curiosity of a repertoire where he has offered remarkable results through an intense season”, Roberto Abbado is Music Director of the Verdi Festival of Parma.

Alexander Melnikov graduated from the Moscow Conservatory. Known for his often unusual musical choices, he performs regularly with important period ensembles such as the Freiburger Barockorchester, MusicAeterna and Akademie für Alte Musik. He was awarded imporatant prizes at prestigious competitions such as the International Robert Schumann Competition in Zwickau (1989) and the Concours Musical Reine Elisabeth in Brussels (1991).

LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN

Coriolano, overture in C minor op. 62

LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN

Concert n. 4 for piano and orchestra in G major op. 58

LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN

Symphony n. 1 in C major op. 21

Coriolano, overture in C minor op. 62

Year of composition: 1807

This overture was written by Beethoven for Heinrich Joseph von Collin’s play based on the story of the ancient Roman general whom Shakespeare had already made the protagonist of one of his tragedies. On the verge of conquering Rome, the leader allowed himself to be persuaded by his mother and wife to desist from the company, killing himself. The overture is the concrete demonstration of an unresolved dialectic: two forces in open contrast pass through the score maintaining the tension from the first to the last bar. It is not known with certainty wether Coriolanus was an actual historical figure, but he must have appeared to all as a general blinded by power and ambition, and it is probable that Beethoven recognized this in personages of his own times.

Concert n. 4 for piano and orchestra in G major op. 58

Year of composition: 1805/1806

First performance: Theater an der Wien, Vienna,  December 22,1808

Movements:

1. Allegro moderato
2. Andante con moto
3. Rondo: Vivace

Performed for the first time at the Theater an der Wien with Ludwig van Beethoven on the piano and dedicated to the Archduke Rudolf of Austria, the Concerto in G major stands out among the Beethovian works because the opening movement and the theme of the enunciation is entrusted to the solo piano, revolutionizing the traditional relationship between orchestra and soloist. This contrast is highlighted in the second and very original movement, Andante con moto, and is resolved in the Rondo finale, where solo instruments prevail.

Symphony n. 1 in C major op. 21

Year of composition: 1799/1800

First performance: Burgtheater, Vienna, April 2, 1800

Movements:

1. Adagio molto; Allegro con brio
2. Andante cantabile con moto
3. Menuetto: Allegro molto e vivace
4. Finale: Adagio; Allegro molto e vivace

The First Symphony represents the beginning of a reaction process with disruptive and irreversible results. It is an “alteration” of the classical Symphony, that Beethoven inherited from Mozart and Haydn. Not so much in the orchestral members, which does not undergo sensitive changes, as much as in the architectural structure, capable of taking an unusual headway in the overwhelming martial pace that infects the code of each movement. The “alterations” triggered by the young master are accentuated in the subversive conduct of the rhythm with which the Menuetto is presented and also present in the Finale, that begins with an Adagio, heightening the musical tension.