Repertoire
Samuel Barber: Essay for orchestra n. 2, op. 17 (1942) 11′
Philip Glass: Philip Glass’s Violin Concerto No. 1 (1987) 25’
Robert Schumann: Symphony No.2, Op.61 (1845-1846) 37′
ARTISTS
Alena Baeva, violin
Stephanie Childress, conductor
Barcelona Symphony Orchestra (OBC)
Programme
Samuel Barber’s Second Essay for Orchestra, composed during wartime, blends romantic lyricism with modern structural rigor, transforming a few themes into a brief yet powerful work that reflects both intellectual depth and emotional intensity. On the other hand, we will experience the most striking repetition of patterns and dizzying rhythms found in many works by fellow American composer Philip Glass. Such is the case of his Violin Concerto No. 1, which will feature Alena Baeva as soloist. Characterised by its dreamlike ambience and circularity, it invites the audience to enter a fantasy realm.
The orchestral ensemble, headed by Stephanie Childress, will take the lead in tackling Robert Schumann’s Symphony No 2. Passionate and contradictory, after a solemn introduction it seems to progress in a series of outbursts, becoming embedded in the auditory memory thanks to its glacial coldness -that of the second movement- which does in fact burn, as if narrating the unavoidable silent collision of ice masses from a distance; continents contained in the divided soul of the romantic author.
