The concert, directed by Lorenzo Viotti, opens with the idyll for orchestra, Im Sommerwind (“In the Summer Wind”), written by Anton Webern in 1904 and inspired by a poem by Bruno Willie. The piece unites its contrapuntal elements with a notable increase in volume and tension in Art Nouveau style, features present before the finale. The piece will follow the symphonic poem, Isle of the Dead, composed by Sergei Rachmaninov in 1909 and inspired by the famous series of painting by Swiss painter Arnold Böcklin. His paintings feature a small island formed by cypress trees and a boat containing a man wrapped in a shroud. 

After the intermission, the conductor will direct the orchestra in Webern’s Passacaglia Op. 1. Here, the artist’s evolution is on full display: starting from the composer's earliest work, Im Sommerwind, the concert arrives at the artist’s first written catalog work (1908), a piece that marks his success as a student and the beginning of his journey “towards new music.” Symphonic Dances, Op. 45, closes the show. Initially composed for piano four-hands and perfumed by Sergei Rachmaninoff and Vladimir Horowitz, the piece was meant to later become a ballet. The idea was scratched with the death of choreographer Fokin, though his name remains linked to the piece. 

Program
Anton Webern
Im Sommerwind

Sergei Rachmaninov
Isle of the Dead, Op. 29

Intermission

Anton Webern
Passacaglia for orchestra, Op. 1

Sergei Rachmaninov
Symphonic Dances, Op. 45