French Romantics in the Italian Enlightenment: Massenet. Fauré. Bizet

Description

The exquisite program will combine the works of Gabriel Fauré, Jules Massenet and Georges Bizet – French composers whose work is steeped in the romantic era and is an example of refined beauty.

The music of Gabriel Fauré is called a school of elegance and taste. The composer addressed completely different genres, including symphonic and chamber-instrumental works, piano pieces, vocal miniatures, choral opuses, giving each a “diamond cut”. The concert will feature four works that allow one to form an idea of the musical portrait of Fauré, in which clarity of thought, purity of style and inner harmony coexist in organic unity.

The creative legacy of Jules Massenet is truly enormous, but most of it is “behind seven seals” for a wide range of listeners. An exception is "Meditation", which has gained incredible popularity and is often perceived as a completely independent work. The composer would probably be extremely surprised: after all, this is an instrumental intermezzo from his opera "Thaïs", created based on the novel of the same name by Anatole France and telling the story of a repentant sinner. According to the plot of the opera, during the performance of "Meditation" (Méditation), the courtesan Thaïs indulges in reflections, after which she decides to leave her idle life and convert to Christianity. Symphony in C major by Georges Bizet is a work of his youth. Most likely, this work, written at the age of seventeen, was a conservatory assignment. The composer did not show much interest in the Symphony (it was not published or performed during Bizet's lifetime) and probably perceived it as a kind of laboratory for some of his subsequent works. Decades after Bizet's death, the Symphony was "heard" and dubbed a youthful masterpiece, in which the charm of youth and the spirit of novelty "are friends" with captivating melody and polished artistic style.

Performers:

Governor's Symphony Orchestra of St. Petersburg

Artistic Director and Conductor - Anton Lubchenko

Soloists:

Grigory Tadtayev, violin

Alena Rogozhina, cello

Program:

Gabriel Fauré

Pavane, Op. 50

Sicilienne from the music to M. Maeterlinck's drama "Pelleas and Melisande", Op. 80

Gavotte from the suite "Masks of Bergamo", Op. 112

Elegy for cello and orchestra, Op. 24