NIKOLAJ SZEPS-ZNAIDER / NOBUYUKI TSUJII
© Yuji Hori, Uwe Arens
Rachmaninoff, Dvořák
Conductor Nikolaj Szeps-Znaider leads a fascinating programme. On the one hand, one of the most famous concertos in the repertoire, Rachmaninoff’s Second, performed by the Japanese pianist Nobuyuki Tsujii. On the other, a magnificent work, sadly too rarely heard because overshadowed by the success of the ‘New World’ Symphony, Dvořák’s Symphony No. 7.
Programme
SERGEI RACHMANINOFF (1873-1943)
Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor Op. 18
Interval
ANTONÍN DVOŘÁK (1841-1904)
Symphony No. 7 in D minor Op. 70
Artist(s)
- Verbier Festival Chamber Orchestra
- Nikolaj Szeps-Znaider conductor
- Nobuyuki Tsujii piano
Nikolaj Szeps-Znaider conducts Schumann: Symphony No. 3 in E-Flat Major, Op. 97 “Rhenish”: IV. Feierlich
Find out more
The story is now well known: in 1897, Rachmaninoff fell into a deep depression after the failure of his Symphony No. 1. It was through his encounter with Dr Nikolai Dahl, who practised hypnosis, that he completed his Second Piano Concerto. A work like a splendid return to life: the funeral knell of the introduction is answered by the consoling island of the slow movement then the triumph of the final peroration. First performed in London in 1885, Dvořák’s Symphony No. 7 is striking for its tragic dimension. Far from Bohemian folklore, the music impresses with its vehemence and formal rigour. Like Beethoven’s Fifth, the Symphony begins in the minor and ends in the major, but the Czech composer maintains the minor key until the very end, letting C major burst forth only in the last six bars. A tour de force, which the Verbier Festival Chamber Orchestra will serve masterfully.
