A Rousing Program of Russian Romantics
The New York Philharmonic welcomes world renowned Russian conductor Tugan Sohkiev and Grammy Award-winning violin virtuoso Gil Shaham for a rousing evening of Russian Romantic Era Giants. The program kicks off with Alexander Borodin's In The Steppes of Central Asia, a grand symphonic poem commissioned to celebrate the silver anniversary of Tsar Nicholas II and his expansion of the empire into the orient.
After Borodin's musical tableau, Shaham will flex his bow for the exquisite lyrical melodies of Prokofiev's Violin Concerto No. 1. Written in 1917, the same year of the Russian Revolution, Prokofiev shied away from the turbulent politics and instead found bittersweet inspiration in a forbidden romance with Nina Meshcherskaya that was broken off by her wealthy family.
A tumultuous relationship also inspired the powerful brass and wind fanfares of Tchaikovsky's Fourth Symphony and its Fate motif, which written in the aftermath of the composer's disastrous marriage. Whilst at times breathtakingly mournful, it ends with a vigorous and triumphant finale based on traditional Russian folk music.