The Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center, in collaboration with the ERT National Symphony Orchestra, presents on Holy Monday at the Stavros Niarchos Hall a concert dedicated to three iconic works of the classical repertoire, under the baton of Myron Michailidis. The program features the atmospheric Adagio by Tomaso Albinoni (as arranged by musicologist Remo Giazotto), the dramatic Violin Concerto No. 1 by Max Bruch with internationally acclaimed soloist Diana Tishchenko, and the profoundly moving "Pathétique" Symphony No. 6 by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky.
The Adagio in G minor for strings and organ by Albinoni is a neo-Baroque composition, often misattributed to the 18th-century Venetian composer Tomaso Albinoni (1671-1751). In fact, the work was composed by a 20th-century musicologist and Albinoni biographer named Remo Giazotto (1910-1998). The piece was purportedly based on the discovery of a bass line by Albinoni in a manuscript fragment. It is most commonly orchestrated for string ensemble and organ, or string ensemble alone, but with its growing fame it has been transcribed for other instruments.
Concerto No. 1 for Violin and Orchestra in G minor, Op. 26, by German composer Max Bruch (1838-1920) is possibly his most famous work and one of his most masterful ones. Considered one of the most popular works of the violin repertoire, it was first performed in 1866 with Bruch himself on the conductor's podium, to soon become a great success. It consists of three parts: a fast-paced first movement that functions as a prelude to the second one; a slow, romantic second movement; and an energetic, fast-paced third part with intense lyrical elements.
The "Pathétique Symphony," or Symphony No. 6 in B minor, Op. 74, by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893) is considered one of the timeless masterpieces of the orchestral repertoire, one of Tchaikovsky's most masterful and most popular works, and his "swan song." It consists of four parts that are completely different from each other: a romantic, lyrical first movement; a "limping" waltz in the second part, featuring the original quintuple (5/4) time; a playful and vivacious third movement; and a mournful fourth part, alluding, in a way, to the power of fate in human life.
Conductor: Myron Michaelidis
Part I
Tomaso Albinoni (Remo Giazotto):
Adagio in G minor, Duration 11'
Max Bruch:
Concerto No. 1 for Violin and Orchestra, in G minor, Op. 26, Duration 24'
Soloist: Diana Tishchenko
Intermission
Part II
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky:
Symphony No. 6 in B minor, or "Pathétique Symphony," Op. 74, Duration 45'
Total duration of concert: 80 minutes
