STAGIONE SINFONICA 2022

SCHUMANN

Valentin Uryupin, condutctor

Sergej Khachatryan, violin

Teatro Comunale di Bologna Orchestra

6 Mar | H 8.30pm

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Valentin Uryupin

Sergej Khachatryan

PROGRAM

Robert Schumann

Concerto for violin and orchestra in D minor

Age of composition: 3 Oct 1853
First performance: 26 Nov 1937, Alte Philharmonie Saal, Berlin
Movements:

  1. In kräftigem, nicht zu schnellem Tempo (re minore)
  2. Langsam (si bemolle maggiore)
  3. Lebhaft, doch nicht schnell (re maggiore)

On September 21, 1853, Schumann noted «Started piece for violin», ten days after having completed it. These are the last happy days of musical evenings with his wife Clara, Brahms and violinist Joachim. The following year, his mental health plummeted to suicide and, in 1856, death. At first enthusiastic, Clara and Joachim then express perplexity about the concert, perhaps marked by the latest tragic events, perhaps in tune with changed trends. The emergence from oblivion in 1937 was exploited by Nazi propaganda that sought a “German” alternative to the Mendelssohn concert, excluded from the billboards for Jewish origins and yet clear reference point for Schumann in his original path.

Symphony No. 3 in E flat major, op. 97, “Renana“

Age of composition: 9 Dec 1850, Düsseldorf
First performance: 6 Feb 1851, Neues Theater, Düsseldorf
Movements:

  1. Lebhaft (mi bemolle maggiore)
  2. Scherzo. Sehr massig (do maggiore)
  3. Nicht schnell (la bemolle maggiore)
  4. Feierlich (do minore). Dir Halben wie vorher die Viertel
  5. Lebhaft (mi bemolle maggiore). Schneller

In 1850 Schumann just moved to Düsseldorf as Musikdirektor of the local orchestra. Here he seems to regain serenity after a turbulent period of creative torments, political uncertainties, and upset over Mendelssohn’s untimely death. Here then takes shape a wide-ranging Symphony inspired by the river Rhine – ironically, the same in which four years later will attempt suicide. The cyclic structure between the initial and the final Vivace is not articulated in the canonical four movements of the classical symphony, but in five. The choice shows how Schumann collects the legacy of Beethoven in a path of formal and poetic renewal in which there is also the tasty description of landscapes and folk dances.

TEATRO COMUNALE DI BOLOGNA ORCHESTRA

With its long-standing tradition, the Orchestra of the Teatro Comunale di Bologna has been led by Musical Directors like Sergiu Celibidache,Zoltán Peskó, Vladimir Delman, Riccardo Chailly, Daniele Gatti, Michele Mariotti. Some of the conductors who have worked with the ensemble include Gary Bertini, Myung-Whun Chung, James Conlon, Pinchas Steinberg, Valery Gergiev, Eliau Inbal, Vladimir Jurowskij, Daniel Oren, Peter Maag, Neville Marriner, Kurt Masur, Riccardo Muti, Mstislav Rostropovič, Esa Pekka Salonen, Georg Solti, Christian Thielemann, Charles Dutoit, Georges Prêtre. The Orchestra of the Teatro Comunale is often invited abroad (The Netherlands, Romania, Spain, France, and Switzerland) and has played in many prestigious festivals (Amsterdam 1987, Parma 1990, Wiesbaden 1994, Santander 2004 and 2008, Aix en Provence 2005, Savonlinna 2006, Macao 2013, Muscat 2015, Guanajuato in Mexico 2017, Paris 2018). A special connection with Japan has brought to several tours, including the tour in June 2019 in Osaka, Tokyo, Yokohama, Fukuoka, with performances of Rigoletto and of Il Barbiere di Siviglia.

Its numerous recordings include La Favoriteconducted by Richard Bonynge; Oberto Conte di San Bonifacio conducted by Zoltán Peskó, Il Barbiere di Siviglia conducted by Giuseppe Patané, La Fille du Régiment conducted by Bruno Campanella, Le Maschere and La Bohème conducted by Gianluigi Gelmetti, La Scala di Seta conducted by Gabriele Ferro, Macbeth, Manon Lescaut, Rigoletto, La Cenerentola, Messa Solenne, and the video production of Vespri siciliani and Giovanna d’Arco and Werther conducted by Riccardo Chailly, Armide conducted by Daniele Gatti, Simon Boccanegra and Attila conducted by Michele Mariotti.

The Orchestra, conducted by Mariotti, has recorded a CD under the label Decca with sacred arias sung by Juan Diego Flórez, and an album under Sony with Romantic arias sung by Nino Machaidze; under Deutsche Grammophon Le Comte Ory with Flórez, and La Nuit de Mai – a selection or arias and songs by Leoncavallo – with Placido Domingo; and under the label PENTATONE it released a CD containing overtures by Rossini, to celebrate 150 years since the death of the composer. In April 2021 the Orchestra recorded under Deutsche Grammophon an album coming out soon with the tenor Benjamin Bernheim and Frédéric Chaslin on the podium.

In March 2013 the artistic ensembles of the Teatro Comunale di Bologna, led by Mariotti, opened the IV International Festival Mstislav Rostropovich in Moscow, where they performed Verdi’s Messa da Requiem. In October 2015, again with Mariotti on the podium, they opened the Lingotto Music Festival at the Auditorium Giovanni Agnelli in Turin, where they performed Stabat Mater by Rossini, and his Overture and Ballet Music from Guillaume Tell. The Teatro Comunale’s 2018 production of La Bohème conducted by Mariotti and staged by Graham Vick received the Abbiati Award as best show.

After working with the Rossini Opera Festival for nearly thirty years (from 1988 to 2016), the year 2017 brought new collaborations between the Teatro Comunale di Bologna and the Verdi Festival in Parma, where the Orchestra performed, among other productions, the Stiffelio directed by Graham Vick. Staged at the Teatro Farnese, the show was highly appreciated by audience and critics alike and was granted the Special Prize at the 37thedition of the “Franco Abbiati” Critics award. The Orchestra’s engagements with the Verdi Festival in 2019 included Luisa Miller at the Chiesa di San Francesco del Prato in Parma, and Aida at the Teatro Verdi in Busseto, and in 2020 a symphonic concert at the Parco Ducale in Parma conducted by Valery Gergiev.
Since January 2022, the Musical Director of the Teatro Comunale di Bologna has been Oksana Lyniv.