St Petersburg, Concert Hall

Rachmaninoff. All-Night Vigil


PERFORMERS:
The Sverdlovsk Philharmonic Symphony Chorus
Principal Guest Chorus Master and Conductor: Andrei Petrenko
Chorus Masters: Roman Aranbitsky and Pavel Tsyganov


PROGRAMME:
Sergei Rachmaninoff
All-Night Vigil for mixed chorus a cappella

For Sergei Rachmaninoff the five years that preceded the revolution saw the appearance of works that the composer himself particularly loved: the symphonic poem The Bells (1913), and the choral cycles The Liturgy of St John Chrysostom (1910) and The All-Night Vigil (1915). Rachmaninoff's religious works belong to a particularly inspired period in his career, and represent the peak of the development of a new trend in Russian church music that began with the compositions of Tchaikovsky, Taneyev, Grechaninov and Kastalsky in the interpretation of Stepan Smolensky and the Moscow Synodal Choir.
Rachmaninoff's All-Night Vigil is one of those national cultural phenomena that are nourished on the vital juices of their native land and grow into a mighty tree, becoming an embodiment of that culture. Written at a time of heightened interest in ancient Russian music that gripped Russian society in the early 20th century, The All-Night Vigil is striking for the depth of its penetration into primordial Russian musical traditions. The composer uses the melodies of ancient Russian canticles and also creates his own, which are virtually indistinguishable from authentic medieval compositions in their style and faithfulness to tradition. Its skilful mastery of choral texture, its understanding of the nature of church singing, and the depth of its immersion into ancient Russian musical traditions make Rachmaninoff's All-Night Vigil one of the greatest masterpieces of Russian religious music.


The Sverdlovsk Philharmonic Symphony Chorus was established in January 2008 for performances with the Urals Academic Philharmonic Orchestra.
The Symphony Chorus frequently performs in concerts. The ensemble has collaborated with such conductors as Dmitry Kitajenko, Dmitry Liss, Krzysztof Penderecki, Jean-Claude Casadesus, Evgeny Brazhnik, Andrei Petrenko and Alexander Vedernikov among others.
The chorus has given concerts at the Tchaikovsky Concert Hall in Moscow as well as the Omsk and Yaroslavl Philharmonic Societies. It has taken part in major cultural projects including the Symphony Forum of Russia in Yekaterinburg (2010), the French Autumn in Yekaterinburg festival (2010), Bach-Fest (2011, 2012, 2014, Yekaterinburg), the XXI Transfiguration festival of choral and bell music (2013, Yaroslavl) and the Eurasia international music festival (2011, 2013, Yekaterinburg).
The chorus’ repertoire includes requiems by Mozart, Verdi, Fauré, Berlioz and Silvestrov, Rachmaninoff’s The Bells, Britten’s Spring Symphony, Taneyev’s At the Reading of a Psalm, Beethoven’s Missa solemnis, Prokofiev’s Cantata for the 20th Anniversary of the October Revolution, Shostakovich’s The Execution of Stepan Razin and Shchedrin’s Bureaucratiade as well as choral works a cappella such as Rachmaninoff’s Liturgy and All-Night Vigil, Sviridov’s Pushkin’s Garland, Schnittke’s Concerto for Chorus to Verse by Grigor Narekatsi and Gavrilin’s The Chimes.
In 2012 the Sverdlovsk Philharmonic Symphony Chorus took part in the XVIII international music festival La Folle Journée (France). This appearance marked the ensemble’s first experience of performing abroad.
In 2013 the Symphony Chorus made an appearance at the Salle Pleyel in Paris: together with the Urals Academic Philharmonic Orchestra the chorus performed Rachmaninoff’s The Bells. In 2014 during the XIII Moscow Easter Festival the Sverdlovsk Philharmonic Symphony Chorus and the Mariinsky Orchestra were conducted by Valery Gergiev in a performance of Mahler’s Second Symphony in Yekaterinburg.

Age category 6+

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