Written within a few years of one another and from three distinct points of view, these works illuminate contrasting inner worlds. For Szymanowski, his friendship with the great violinist Pavel Kochanski is manifested in the beauty of the second violin concerto. This happens to be Szymanowski’s final major composition but also the final work that Kochanski performed. Bonis reflects on the tragic lives of three of history’s most influential female heroines — Ophelia, Salome, Cleopatra. The human struggles represented by these women find a different echo in Rachmaninoff’s music, whose artistic contributions were always marked by self-doubt. Yet at the end of his Symphonic Dances — his final composition — he offers a statement of gratitude to the divine, writing “Hallelujah” in his manuscript just as the final chords appear.
Program
Mélanie Bonis
Ophelie
Salomé
Le Songe de Cléopâtre
Karol Szymanowski Violin Concerto No. 2
Sergei Rachmaninoff Symphonic Dances
Artists
Marta Gardolińska conductor
Leila Josefowicz violin
