RACHMANINOFF'S SECOND SYMPHONY. Denis Kozhukin and Stephanie Childress

Repertoire

Carl Nielsen: Helios Overture, Op. 17 (1910) 10’
Sergei Prokofiev: Piano Concerto No. 2 in G minor, Op. 16 (1913) 30′
Sergei Rachmaninoff: Symphony No. 2 in E minor, Op. 27 (1907) 55′

ARTISTS

Denis Kozhukhin, piano
Stephanie Childress, conductor
Barcelona Symphony Orchestra (OBC)

Programme

A piece by Carl Nielsen is responsible for opening a concert based on northern latitudes in which, however, works that are not at all cold are brought together. The Danish composer evokes sunrise and its incandescent power in the Helios overture, which premièred in Copenhagen on 8 October 1903. Russian pianist Denis Kozhukin will then perform one of Prokofiev’s most polemic works, which was labelled too avant-garde when it premièred. The individual freedom of the piano, ultimately facing the ensemble, generates a striking artistic tension that was to contribute to the author’s fame. No less valued for his work as a concert composer, Rachmaninoff also wrote four symphonies, involving an effort not always repaid in terms of popularity. The critiques he received after his First affected his self-esteem, yet his Second, with its magnificent extension and a proudly post-romantic orchestral lavishness -premièred by the composer on 8 February 1908 in his position as conductor- would enable him to recover his status.