Rachmaninoff's Symphonic Dances

Symphonic splendour of sound, late-Romantic longing and fateful undertones characterise Rachmaninoff's orchestral music. Prokofiev's violin concerto stands in contrast as a bright and dreamy vision of love. Sergei Rachmaninoff had a unique ability to turn melancholy and existential unrest into music. The symphonic poem The Isle of the Dead, inspired by Arnold Böcklin's painting, depicts an inescapable journey towards death. The music moves slowly forward in dark waves, carried by deep sonorities and a heavy, ominous calm. The work was composed in 1908, but it was not until late in life that Rachmaninoff wrote his musical testament, Symphonic Dances. In three movements he gathers his musical experience in an intense blend of rhythmic energy, dark nostalgia and glowing orchestral colours, where motifs of death and the will to live are interwoven. Rachmaninoff's contemporary Sergei Prokofiev turned his gaze towards life in his Violin Concerto No. 1 from 1923. The musical language is lyrical and fairy-tale-like, with gentle poetry, whimsical colours and sudden outbursts of energy. Programme: Rachmaninov / The Isle of the Dead Prokofiev / Violin Concerto No. 1 Rachmaninov / Symphonic Dances

• Dirigent: Dmitry Matvienko / Solist: Teresa la Courviolin

RECORDINGS OF THE WORKS

Sergej Rakhmaninov: Symfoniske danser, op. 45

Whole work

Open on YouTube (2019)More recordings on Kulturbase

Sergej Prokofjev: Fiolinkonsert nr. 1 i D-dur, op. 19

Listen on NRK Radio (2021)More recordings on Kulturbase

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