Geneva Concerts Presents:

Friday, 14 January 2000, 8:15 PM

Chamber Orchestra Kremlin

Misha Rachlevsky, Music Director

"The Four Seasons"

The Program

VIVALDI: Le Quattro Stagioni (The Four Seasons)

Vitaly Matveev, Continuo

Concerto for Violin in E major, Opus 8 No. 1:
Primavera (Spring)
Tatiana Porchneva, Violin

Concerto for Violin in G minor, Opus 8 No. 2:
L'estate (Summer)
Tatiana Vinogradova, Violin

Concerto for Violin in F major, Opus 8 No. 3:
L'autunno (Autumn)
Olga Sidarovich, Violin

Concerto for Violin in F minor, Opus 8 No. 4:
L'inverno (Winter)
Eskender Bekmambetov, Violin

Intermission

PIAZZOLLA: Las Cuarto Estaciones Porteñas (The Four Seasons Of Buenos Aires)
Transcription by Jose Bragato

Vitaly Matveev, Piano

Verano Porteño (Summer)
Anton Shelepov, Violin
Alla Pitirimova, Cello

Invierno Porteño (Winter)
Alexandre Barklianski, Violin
Elizaveta Nalivaiko, Cello

Otono Porteño (Autumn)
Maxim Avramenko, Violin
Maxim Kozlov, Cello

Primavera Porteña (Spring)
Vladislav Bezroukov, Violin
Maxim Kozlov, Cello

Misha Rachlevsky

Antonio Vivaldi

What a wonderful fate The Four Seasons of Antonio Vivaldi has enjoyed! Survey after survey puts it on the top line as the most popular piece of classical music of all time. It is by far the most recorded classical work. Its interpreters have ranged from great violinists to aspiring amateurs, from practitioners of authentic performance to those favoring a modern approach. It has been transcribed for various instruments, utilized in movies, jazz and rock concerts, countless commercials, on-hold selections (you name it, and it's been there! And just when one thinks all possible variations have been heard, along comes another reincarnation, usually offering yet another glimpse into the bottomless well of possibilities this composition offers. This multitude of renditions gives a totally new meaning to the famous one-liner of Igor Stravinsky, whose sharp-tongued remarks stung many composers and performers alike: "Vivaldi did not write 400 concertos, he wrote one concerto 400 times." Indeed!

Astor Piazzolla

By naming his set of four one-movement compositions "The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires," Astor Piazzolla paid tribute to the author of its most famous namesake composition and, at the same time, underlined the meteorological and cultural differences between Mediterranean Europe and the heart of South America. In his "Four Seasons," there are no winter chills or violent summer storms, no singing birds or barking dogs. The "weather," or rather, the ambience, is always the same (thick air, highly charged with sensuality. Within this frame, though, there are countless variances of emotion, from utmost tenderness, to nearly violent passion.

This series is made possible, in part, by a grant from the Williams Family Foundation, by a continuing subscription from Hobart and William Smith Colleges, by a grant from the Wyckoff Family Foundation, and by the friends of Geneva Concerts. For additional information contact info@genevaconcerts.org.

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