Anniversary Premieres
Evening Music | May 6, 2010
Tonight we take note of some anniversary premieres: Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in a recording featuring firebrand pianist Martha Argerich, and Prokofiev’s Seventh Symphony, represented in grand fashion by the USSR Radio Symphony under Gennady Rozhdestvensky.
"I have to tell you that when I don't play Chopin for awhile, I don't feel like a pianist." So says Argentinean pianist Martha Argerich, who performs (definitely like a pianist and then some) in Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 1 tonight with the London Symphony under Claudio Abbado. Chopin himself premiered his concerto in Warsaw on this date in 1830 (at age 20); the concert proved to be his last public appearance in his native homeland.
Chopin’s 1st Piano Concerto came towards the early part of his career; our other anniversary premiere proved to be Sergei Prokofiev’s swan song. Prokofiev was in poor health by the time his Symphony No. 7 premiered on this day in 1952; he managed to attend, but succumbed to his illness a few months later. “Truly joyous” and “lyrical” is how Dmitri Shostakovich described this work, which Prokofiev infused with wondrous reflections of a long-past childhood, and a triumphant optimism for the future (which belied his actual circumstances through sheer strength of spirit). Conductor Gennady Rozhdestvensky leads the USSR Radio Symphony Orchestra in a fitting musical tribute to this great composer.
"I have to tell you that when I don't play Chopin for awhile, I don't feel like a pianist." So says Argentinean pianist Martha Argerich, who performs (definitely like a pianist and then some) in Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 1 tonight with the London Symphony under Claudio Abbado. Chopin himself premiered his concerto in Warsaw on this date in 1830 (at age 20); the concert proved to be his last public appearance in his native homeland.
Chopin’s 1st Piano Concerto came towards the early part of his career; our other anniversary premiere proved to be Sergei Prokofiev’s swan song. Prokofiev was in poor health by the time his Symphony No. 7 premiered on this day in 1952; he managed to attend, but succumbed to his illness a few months later. “Truly joyous” and “lyrical” is how Dmitri Shostakovich described this work, which Prokofiev infused with wondrous reflections of a long-past childhood, and a triumphant optimism for the future (which belied his actual circumstances through sheer strength of spirit). Conductor Gennady Rozhdestvensky leads the USSR Radio Symphony Orchestra in a fitting musical tribute to this great composer.
