The Golden Cockerel
Evening Music | May 6, 2010
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov's fairy-tale opera "The Golden Cockerel" found its niche as an "opera-ballet" in the hands of the impresario Diaghilev, even though it was originally intended to expose the ineptness of the Czarist regime (which banned the work from the stage until after the composer's death). Tonight we'll hear Rimsky-Korsakov's popular orchestral suite from the opera; Roger Desormiere leads the National Orchestra of France.
And speaking of Diaghilev (and orchestral suites), we'll hear from one of his first collaborations with Igor Stravinsky, the "Firebird," in its second version as an orchestral suite (Paavo Järvi conducts the Cincinatti Symphony Orchestra). Also tonight, Ralph Vaughan Williams' "Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis" — written while the composer was studying with Ravel and interested in creating vivid orchestral colors; Vaughan Williams creates his colors entirely through the use of a string orchestra divided up into various "choirs".
And speaking of Diaghilev (and orchestral suites), we'll hear from one of his first collaborations with Igor Stravinsky, the "Firebird," in its second version as an orchestral suite (Paavo Järvi conducts the Cincinatti Symphony Orchestra). Also tonight, Ralph Vaughan Williams' "Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis" — written while the composer was studying with Ravel and interested in creating vivid orchestral colors; Vaughan Williams creates his colors entirely through the use of a string orchestra divided up into various "choirs".
