Orchestre de la Suisse Romande / Dvořák / Strauss

In order to view exclusive films with NO ADVERTS and HELP Altea Media restore in UHD resolution new productions, please join and subscribe : @alteamedia View our subscription program introduction film: Altea Media subscription introduction Antonín Dvořák: Cello Concerto in B minor, Op. 104 1. Allegro 2. Adagio ma non troppo 3. Finale. Allegro moderato Richard Strauss: Ein Heldenleben Op. 40 Part I: "The Hero" Part II: "The Hero's Adversaries" Part III: "The Hero's Helpmate" / "The Hero's Companion" Part IV: "The Hero's Battlefield" Part V: "The Hero's Work of Piece" Part VI: "The Hero's Retreat from the World and His Fulfillment" / "The Hero's Escape from the World and His Fulfillment" Xavier Phillips, cello Orchestre de la Suisse Romande Jonathan Nott, conductor The Cello Concerto in B minor, Op. 104 (B. 191), was composed while Dvořák was staying in the United States. It took shape and was completed in the winter of 1895. It was the last concerto written by the composer and probably his most accomplished, his earlier attempts (Piano Concerto Op. 33 and Violin Concerto Op. 53) having been criticized for the imposing predominance of the orchestra to the detriment of the soloist, as the violinist Joseph Joachim regretted. The work is chronologically situated between his ninth and final symphony and his Symphonic Poems. He got the idea for the score after listening to the Cello Concerto No. 2 by Victor Herbert, an American composer known mainly for his operettas. A score of a first cello concerto from 1865 exists, but it was never orchestrated by its author. The composer's sister-in-law and former student (and youthful love) Josefina Kaunikova died shortly before the completion of the work. It is possible that this made her change the ending of this Concerto, but Dvořák left no testimony on this subject. However, his son later wrote that the finale was a tribute to "the musician's last love". The work was dedicated to his friend Hanuš Wihan, a cellist. But an artistic disagreement arose between the two men over certain revisions of the score, and Dvořák particularly rejected the cadenza of the last movement. The premiere took place on 19 March 1896 in London with Leo Stern on the cello accompanied by the orchestra of the Philharmonic Society under the direction of the composer. Structure It comprises three movements and its performance lasts approximately forty minutes: Ein Heldenleben, op. 40 (in French A Hero's Life) is a symphonic poem composed by Richard Strauss (1864-1949) between 1897-1898, and completed in Berlin-Charlottenburg on 27 December 1898. Composed three years after Thus Spoke Zarathustra. Ein Heldenleben inaugurates a new series of symphonic pieces that are no longer based on a literary pretext (the Alpine Symphony will follow four years later). Richard Strauss completes a first version on December 1, 1898 but reworks the finale shortly after, the final version being completed on December 27 of the same year. Ein Heldenleben is dedicated to the conductor Willem Mengelberg who will conduct the first recording some thirty years later. The premiere takes place in Frankfurt am Main on March 3, 1899 under the direction of the composer. The "Hero" is in fact the composer himself, whom he describes in a somewhat martial manner, even if the work ends in a peaceful manner and there are accents of tenderness (violin solo symbolizing his wife Pauline in the third part). The fifth part is a reprise of a number of themes from his earlier works. Richard Strauss would soon after write a second score of autobiographical inspiration: the Sinfonia Domestica. Ein Heldenleben can be read as a program work in six parts. The titles of the parts are not by the composer himself, but were given a posteriori by Lawrence Gilman, following various interviews that the musician had. The performance lasts approximately forty-five minutes.