CSO Masterworks 2 Fri: Firebird and Fairy Tales

With Peter and the Wolf

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Vladimir Kulenovic, Conductor
Maria Ioudenitch, Violin
Charleston Symphony Chorus (Nicholas Quardokus, Director)
College of Charleston Concert Choir
Narrator To Be Announced

About the Show

Although the composers featured on this program were chronological contemporaries during the turn of the 20th century, individually, they came from a wide variety of backgrounds, with British, Spanish, French, and Russian origins. Nevertheless, the connections remain. From Maurice Ravel’s Tzigane and Pablo de Sarasate’s Fantasy on Bizet’s “Carmen” to Peter and the Wolf and The Firebird, the works are linked together by threads of fairy tales and fantasy, and mysterious, intense undertones.

Prokofiev created the delightful orchestral fairy tale Peter and the Wolf, told by orchestra and narrator, with instruments representing different animals and characters. Often associated with children learning music appreciation, it nonetheless continues to inspire and entertain listeners of all ages. Stravinsky’s The Firebird Suite from his ballet score conjures Russian folk music and lore to weave a colorful, animated tale of good versus evil.

NOTEWORTHY:

• The Chicago Tribune called Vladimir Kulenovic “a conductor with uncommon talent.” In 2015, Kulenovic won the Sir Georg Solti Foundation’s highest conducting award, Solti Conducting Fellow.
• In 2023, Maria Ioudenitch won the Opus Klassik Award in the category “Chamber Music Recording of the Year” for her debut album, Songbird, on Warner Classics.
• British composer Ralph Vaughan Williams composed Serenade to Music in 1938, and the text was inspired by William Shakespeare’s play The Merchant of Venice, which addresses the glory of music.
• Tzigane for Violin and Orchestra was described by Ravel as “a virtuoso piece in the style of a Hungarian Rhapsody.”
• Sarasate was a violin virtuoso and composer who put his own spin on the themes of Bizet’s famous opera, Carmen, to highlight the violin.

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