Rachmaninoff. Rimsky-Korsakov

The IV St. Petersburg Music Festival named after S.K. Gorkovenko was held in the Northern Capital from November 24 to December 23. Every year, the festival introduces listeners to new and little-known musical genres, encouraging a rethinking of familiar works.

This year, the program of the IV St. Petersburg Music Festival named after S.K. Gorkovenko was dedicated to several significant dates: the 80th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War and the 80th anniversary of the Governor's Symphony Orchestra, founded on May 10, 1945; the 100th anniversary of composer Veniamin Basner and theater and film actor Innokenty Smoktunovsky; the 120th anniversary of directors Grigory Kozintsev, Alexander Faintsimer, and Leo Arnshtam; and the 185th anniversary of Pyotr Tchaikovsky.

On December 23, the festival concluded at the Gorkovenko Theater. V. F. Komissarzhevskaya's opera program "Rachmaninoff. Rimsky-Korsakov."

The year 1905 was a turning point for the two composers. Sergei Rachmaninoff's operas "The Miserly Knight" based on Alexander Pushkin's text and "Francesca da Rimini" based on Dante's were both written that year. Excerpts from them will be performed this evening.

However, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov's one-act opera "Kashchei the Immortal" was first performed in St. Petersburg in 1905. The premiere took place at the theater now named after Vera Komissarzhevskaya. The opera's performance was accompanied by a scandal and a socio-political demonstration in support of the composer, who was dismissed from the conservatory four days before the premiere.

IN THE PROGRAM:

S. Rachmaninoff. Scene 2 from the opera "The Miserly Knight" to a text by A.S. Pushkin, Op. 24 (1905), commemorating the 120th anniversary of the opera's creation;

S. Rachmaninoff. Scene 1 from the opera "Francesca da Rimini" after A. Dante, Op. 25 (1905), commemorating the 120th anniversary of the opera's creation;

N. Rimsky-Korsakov. Kashchei the Immortal (Autumn Tale). One-act opera, commemorating the 120th anniversary of the St. Petersburg premiere.

PERFORMERS:

Chamber Choir "Petersburg Serenades,"

Governor's Symphony Orchestra,

Conductor: Anton LUBCHENKO.

St. Petersburg State Academic Drama Theater named after V.F. Komissarzhevskaya, St. Petersburg, December 23, 2005.