09.11.2016
Night of String Serenades
The String Serenades programme is the latest in a series of Mikhailovsky Theatre performances in the Large Italian Skylight Room of the State Hermitage Museum. This event, on 17 December, will feature music by Dvořák and Tchaikovsky.
The choice of composers was no accident: Dvořák and Tchaikovsky left behind a lot of opera music, and the musicians who are part of the Theatre’s opera company are always eager for a chance to perform their works. These two composers have elevated the serenade genre, handed down by the Viennese masters, to the highest level of artistry. Dvořák’s serenade retains the clarity of the classical era, while mixing in a heady dose of excitement and sensuality. He opened his work with a waltz: a choice that would be emulated five years later in Tchaikovsky’s own serenade. Tchaikovsky did not hide the sources of his inspiration: “In the first part, I paid homage to my idol, Mozart, by deliberately imitating his style. To know that listeners think my work may not be far from its model would delight me no end.” Tchaikovsky’s serenade even includes an undisguised nod to The Queen of Spades. In 1934, George Balanchine created Serenade, a ballet set to Tchaikovsky’s music. In the 1980s, the production became part of the Mikhailovsky Theatre repertoire.
“String serenades shouldn’t invoke images of men singing songs under their lover’s window”, explains Mikhailovsky violinist and concert master for the performance Vladimir Pogoretsky. “The serenade is a complex musical arrangement. It’s practically a symphony. Or more precisely, a midpoint between a suite and a symphony. I am confident our audience will be as impressed by Dvořák’s and Tchaikovsky’s ‘string symphonies’ as they would be by a full symphony performance. For composers, it’s a convenient genre; for listeners, it is an easily accessible art form. And the Italian Skylight Room’s acoustics will help us to set the right mood.”
The choice of composers was no accident: Dvořák and Tchaikovsky left behind a lot of opera music, and the musicians who are part of the Theatre’s opera company are always eager for a chance to perform their works. These two composers have elevated the serenade genre, handed down by the Viennese masters, to the highest level of artistry. Dvořák’s serenade retains the clarity of the classical era, while mixing in a heady dose of excitement and sensuality. He opened his work with a waltz: a choice that would be emulated five years later in Tchaikovsky’s own serenade. Tchaikovsky did not hide the sources of his inspiration: “In the first part, I paid homage to my idol, Mozart, by deliberately imitating his style. To know that listeners think my work may not be far from its model would delight me no end.” Tchaikovsky’s serenade even includes an undisguised nod to The Queen of Spades. In 1934, George Balanchine created Serenade, a ballet set to Tchaikovsky’s music. In the 1980s, the production became part of the Mikhailovsky Theatre repertoire.
“String serenades shouldn’t invoke images of men singing songs under their lover’s window”, explains Mikhailovsky violinist and concert master for the performance Vladimir Pogoretsky. “The serenade is a complex musical arrangement. It’s practically a symphony. Or more precisely, a midpoint between a suite and a symphony. I am confident our audience will be as impressed by Dvořák’s and Tchaikovsky’s ‘string symphonies’ as they would be by a full symphony performance. For composers, it’s a convenient genre; for listeners, it is an easily accessible art form. And the Italian Skylight Room’s acoustics will help us to set the right mood.”
