Tchaikovsky’s First Piano Concerto Headlines Nashville Symphony’s Russian Masters Performances on Nov. 2-3
Great seats start at $20; concerts also feature works by Mussorgsky and Shostakovich
Nashville, Tenn. (October 22, 2018) — The Nashville Symphony’s 2018/19 Aegis Sciences Classical Series continues on November 2-3 at Schermerhorn Symphony Center with a program of Russian favorites, as celebrated Russian conductor Victor Yampolsky leads the orchestra on Tchaikovsky’s beloved First Piano Concerto. A staple of the classical repertoire, the concerto will feature dazzling Uzbek pianist Behzod Abduraimov as the soloist, and is bookended on the program by Mussorgsky’s Dawn on Moscow River from Khovanshchina and Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 8.
Great seats are available starting at $20, and the Symphony’s Soundcheck program offers $10 tickets to students in K-12, college and grad school. Date night packages– which include two tickets, two glasses of wine and Goo Goo chocolates – are also available.
About the Program
Tchaikovsky’s First Piano Concerto features one of the most memorable openings in all of orchestral music, but the piece was initially panned by one of the composer’s most ardent supporters. Conductor and pianist Nikolai Rubinstein was highly critical of the concerto after hearing a private preview, declaring that it was beyond rescue before suggesting that it might be saved with some extensive revisions. A shocked Tchaikovsky vowed to leave the concerto as it was; fortunately, conductor and pianist Hans von Bülow would go on to become the piece’s champion, performing the solo part at the world premiere in Boston in 1875. Rubenstein later recanted his critique of the work and conducted its Moscow premiere.
Described by The Times as “master of all he surveys,” soloist Behzod Abduraimov is on the rise internationally, thanks to his captivating performances in recital and alongside some of the world’s finest orchestras. Blessed with immense musical depth, outstanding technique and breathtaking delicacy, Abduraimov is the perfect fit for a concerto that can be physically demanding on the soloist at times, but also delivers moments of chamber-like intimacy during the piano’s duets with the flute and other instruments.
Shostakovich penned the Eighth Symphony – the second of his “war” symphonies – in 1943, while his native Russia was embroiled in a desperate struggle for survival following Hitler’s invasion. The score is marked by moments of tragedy and dramatic conflict, and some music historians have even compared the Eighth thematically to a Requiem. Shostakovich, however, publicly called it an optimistic work, one that followed the darkness-to-light model of the victory symphony and looked ahead to the post-war years. The Eighth also features very unusual proportions, with the first movement comprising nearly half of the entire piece. This work would later be singled out by Soviet authorities, who expressed disapproval of Shostakovich’s pessimism and individualism – one of several occasions that the composer faced official censure.
Opening this concert is an excerpt from Mussorgsky’s unfinished opera Khovanshchina. The title refers to the historical Prince Ivan Khovansky, who allegedly led a coup in the 1680s, and the piece relates the story of a great power struggle that took place in Russia two centuries earlier, prior to the ascension of Peter the Great. Both Rimsky-Korsakov and Shostakovich made revisions to Mussorgsky’s work, and this performance will feature the former’s orchestrated adaptation of the opera’s prelude.
Victor Yampolsky returns to conduct the Nashville Symphony for the first time since 2006. The son of the famed pianist Vladimir Yampolsky, he was a member of the Moscow Philharmonic as both a violinist and assistant conductor and has conducted more than 80 professional and student orchestras around the world.
Tickets for Russian Masters may be purchased:
- Online at NashvilleSymphony.org/RussianMasters
- Via phone at 615.687.6400
- At the Schermerhorn Symphony Center Box Office, One Symphony Place in downtown Nashville
Additional information, including program notes, performer bios, a Spotify playlist and audio of Nashville Symphony music director Giancarlo Guerrero discussing the Russian Masters program, can be found at NashvilleSymphony.org/RussianMasters.
The GRAMMY® Award-winning Nashville Symphony has earned an international reputation for its innovative programming and its commitment to performing, recording and commissioning works by America’s leading composers. The Nashville Symphony has released 29 recordings on Naxos, which have received 24 GRAMMY® nominations and 13 GRAMMY® Awards, making it one of the most active recording orchestras in the country. The orchestra has also released recordings on Decca, Deutsche Grammophon and New West Records, among other labels. With more than 140 performances annually, the orchestra offers a broad range of classical, pops and jazz, and children’s concerts, while its extensive education and community engagement programs reach 60,000 children and adults each year.
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