Rare Masterpieces. Rachmaninov, Tchaikovsky, Prokofiev
The program "Rare Masterpieces. Rachmaninoff, Tchaikovsky, Prokofiev" was held as part of the III St. Petersburg Music Festival named after S.K. Gorkovenko. It was dedicated to two significant dates - the 160th anniversary of Vera Komissarzhevskaya and the 460th anniversary of William Shakespeare.
The legendary actress Vera Komissarzhevskaya was an idol of the theater audience at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. In 1903, she played the role of Monna Vanna in a performance based on the play of the same name by Maurice Maeterlinck. Her voice and stage manners inspired Sergei Rachmaninoff to create an opera based on this play by the Belgian playwright. In 1906, he began working on it, but it was never completed. That evening, the first act of the opera was performed in concert. William Shakespeare's anniversary is marked by the performance of music by Pyotr Tchaikovsky and Sergei Prokofiev for theatrical productions of the tragedy "Hamlet". Pyotr Tchaikovsky wrote the music for the play "Hamlet" for the benefit performance of the French actor Lucien Guitry in 1891. The composer himself did not attach much importance to this work, but, as the composer's brother Modest Tchaikovsky wrote, "...from individual reviews of it he was surprised to hear praise and changed his dismissive opinion of this work for the better." In the works of Sergei Prokofiev in the 1930s, the Shakespearean theme reigned supreme: he wrote music for the play Egyptian Nights by director Alexander Tairov at the Chamber Theatre based on the texts of Bernard Shaw, Alexander Pushkin and William Shakespeare (1934), and the ballet Romeo and Juliet (1935). In 1936, the composer worked on the musical design for the Meyerhold Theatre's play Hamlet. But the theatre was closed by order of the Arts Committee under the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR. Ultimately, Sergei Prokofiev wrote music for the play Hamlet by the Leningrad Young Theatre of S. E. Radlov in 1937-1938. The Governor's Symphony Orchestra of St. Petersburg under the direction of Anton Lubchenko gave listeners a rare opportunity to hear and compare music for performances of the classic's most famous play, written by composers of different eras.
PERFORMERS:
Governor's Symphony Orchestra of St. Petersburg
Conductor – Anton Lubchenko
The program will feature works:
S.V.Rachmaninov. Opera "Monna Vanna" based on the play of the same name by M. Maeterlinck (unfinished, Act I). Concert performance
P.I.Tchaikovsky. "Hamlet", music for the tragedy by W. Shakespeare, op. 67a
S.S.Prokofiev. "Hamlet", music for the dramatic play, op. 77
St. Petersburg Academic Drama Theater named after V.F.Komissarzhevskaya, St. Petersburg, December 3, 2024
