Nobody was more fired-up by the sound of a truly virtuosic modern symphony orchestra than Sergei Rachmaninov, who reveled in all the luxury, contrast and wicked excitement of that sound in his last work for orchestra, the Symphonic Dances.
Rachmaninov’s score isn’t just a celebration of orchestral brilliance, it is a summation of an extraordinary career that took the composer from public failure in St Petersburg to success on an almost global scale. Amidst all the brilliance of his waltzing, stomping and frolicking Symphonic Dances, Rachmaninov quotes from his much-criticized Symphony No. 1 and his spiritually significant Vespers.
Aage Richard Meyer conducts the composer’s virtuosic showpiece here, alongside another work that toys wickedly with the idea of the dance. In La Valse, history’s best orchestrator Maurice Ravel sabotages a Viennese waltz for the voyeuristic enjoyment of his audience. Prepare to be sucked-in to Ravel’s swirling, thrilling musical vortex.
The summer concerts are generously supported by Mr Trond Mohn.