17.12.2012
“Prokofiev’s Music Is Incredibly Theatrical”
The tradition of holding symphony concerts on the opera stage on 8 January will be continued in 2013 with a programme of works of Sergey Prokofiev. The Mikhailovsky Theatre Orchestra and Choir will perform his Symphony No. 5 in B-flat major and the Alexander Nevsky Cantata. Mikhail Tatarnikov, the Mikhailovsky Theatre’s Musical Director and Principal Conductor, talks about the upcoming concert.
“The Fifth Symphony is a synthesis of everything to be found in Sergey Prokofiev’s oeuvre. It is dramatically saturated, complex, masterful music with a very interesting form that is very relevant today. I believe that our orchestra has the ability to give a worthy performance of this work; we are prepared to address the most complex of tasks. This work will be interesting for the musicians to play, and of course it is very interesting for the conductor too. I have already performed the Fifth Symphony with other orchestras in Russia and Italy, and naturally I now want to do it with our orchestra, especially as we have just prepared the premiere of Prokofiev’s ballet Romeo and Juliet. As a musician, I was trained in the theatre, and all of Prokofiev’s music — not just his operas and ballets, but his symphonic works too — is incredibly theatrical. It was Valery Gergiev who drew my attention to this, and I am convinced of it as well: Prokofiev’s music is incredibly theatrical.
In selecting a choral piece — and we really wanted our choir to be actively involved, discussing the programme at length with its Artistic Director, Vladimir Stolpovskikh — we finally made the decision to perform the Alexander Nevsky Cantata. As we all know, it was created for Sergey Eisenstein’s legendary film. The concert will be held just after Russian Orthodox Christmas. To me, this music is very Russian, patriotic in the highest sense of the word, and reflects the spirit of this holiday better than anything else could.”
“The Fifth Symphony is a synthesis of everything to be found in Sergey Prokofiev’s oeuvre. It is dramatically saturated, complex, masterful music with a very interesting form that is very relevant today. I believe that our orchestra has the ability to give a worthy performance of this work; we are prepared to address the most complex of tasks. This work will be interesting for the musicians to play, and of course it is very interesting for the conductor too. I have already performed the Fifth Symphony with other orchestras in Russia and Italy, and naturally I now want to do it with our orchestra, especially as we have just prepared the premiere of Prokofiev’s ballet Romeo and Juliet. As a musician, I was trained in the theatre, and all of Prokofiev’s music — not just his operas and ballets, but his symphonic works too — is incredibly theatrical. It was Valery Gergiev who drew my attention to this, and I am convinced of it as well: Prokofiev’s music is incredibly theatrical.
In selecting a choral piece — and we really wanted our choir to be actively involved, discussing the programme at length with its Artistic Director, Vladimir Stolpovskikh — we finally made the decision to perform the Alexander Nevsky Cantata. As we all know, it was created for Sergey Eisenstein’s legendary film. The concert will be held just after Russian Orthodox Christmas. To me, this music is very Russian, patriotic in the highest sense of the word, and reflects the spirit of this holiday better than anything else could.”
