«1001 NACHT» – Sinfoniekonzert

1897: The first symphony by the young Sergei Rachmaninov fails with critics and audiences. Conductor Glazunov didn't like the work anyway and was probably drunk at the premiere. Rachmaninov himself covered his ears, and the "most terrible hour of his life" then drove him into a deep creative crisis. For three years, he does not put another note on paper and surrenders to his already melancholy nature until he seeks medical help from neurologist Nikolaj Dahl. With the help of hypnotherapy, his condition gradually improved: "You are going to write your concerto... You will work with great ease... The concert will be of excellent quality." The result: Rachmaninoff's Second Piano Concerto, premiered in 1901 with great success and dedicated to Nikolai Dahl. It is the Romantic piano concerto par excellence and is still one of the most popular works on the concert stages today due to its beauty and deeply melancholic melody.

Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov pursued a much more patriotic compositional style than the Western-influenced Rachmaninov. At the same time, he was inspired by the widespread fascination for the Oriental at the time and combined these influences into his great tone poem Scheherazade. In the famous Persian fairy tale collection, Scheherazade tells the king stories for 1001 nights to secure her life. Rimsi-Korsakov chose individual stories such as that of Sinbad the Navigator and processed them into a spectacularly orchestrated suite that brings the magic of fairy tales to life.

Rimsky-Korsakov's close friend Modest Mussorgsky composed Dawn on the Moskva River as an overture for his politically charged opera Khovanshchina ("The Khovansky Affair"). The lyrical prelude opens a concert evening that is as touching as it is rousing.

Cast:
Simon Bürki, piano
Philippe Bach, conductor
Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra of the Grisons

Program:
Modest Mussorgsky (1839-1881)
Dawn on the Moskva River
from the opera Khovanshchina (1881)

Sergei Rachmaninov (1873-1943)
Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor, op. 18 (1901)

Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (1844-1908)
Scheherazade, op. 35 (1888)