“The best rhapsodies of the world” in MMDM

On November 21, the Svetlanov Hall of the Moscow International House of Music (MMDM) will host a significant event in the musical life of the capital – the concert “The Best Rhapsodies of the World” performed by the Moscow Symphony Orchestra “Russian Philharmonic” and star soloists: Alexander Gindin – piano, Rodion Petrov – violin, Valeria Grokhovsky – piano. And that is not all! The outstanding Italian conductor Fabio Mastrangelo will take over the orchestra that day. A brilliant line-up of performers will present the audience with the best examples of rhapsodies in the history of world music, from Liszt’s Hungarian to Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody!

Rhapsody owes its name to the ancient Greek singers – rhapsodes, who traveled around the country and engaged in musical improvisations, performing epic poems on the topic of the day. They knew how to really bewitch and surprise their audience.

Inspired by this skill, the orchestra “Russian Philharmonic” created an original concert program “The best rhapsodies of the world”, in which the audience will be able to discover a new sound of world masterpieces performed by a symphony orchestra and famous virtuoso soloists in classical, jazz and rock style!

“Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini” for piano and orchestra is one of the most striking works of Sergei Rachmaninov. It consists of 24 variations on the theme of Caprice No. 24 by the famous Italian violinist and composer Niccolò Paganini. The work, created in 1934, still strikes the imagination of musicians and listeners with its complexity and filigree transitions from romantic nostalgic mood to gloomy forebodings and drama.

Reason for creating “Rhapsody in the Blues” American composer George Gershwin was … an announcement of an upcoming concert with his participation in the New York Tribune newspaper, which accidentally caught Gershwin’s eye in one of the city’s billiard clubs. The author of the announcement and the leader of the orchestra, Paul Whiteman, admitted to the composer that he took such a risky step in order to seize the initiative from competitors. Gershwin gathered his strength and literally in a month created one of his best works, which won the hearts of the audience from the first minutes. This rhapsody is still very popular and is heard not only in the best concert halls around the world, but also in famous films, such as Baz Luhrmann’s The Great Gatsby.

“Rhapsody No. 2”, written by the Hungarian composer Franz Liszt, was written in 1847. Fragments of this work can be found in various cartoons, for example, in the legendary “Tom and Jerry”, as well as in the first musical comedy filmed in the USSR – in the film “Merry Fellows”.

Rhapsody “Gypsy” was created by Maurice Ravel in the best traditions of the works of Franz Liszt and Niccolò Paganini. The work was dedicated to the violinist Gelli d’Aranyi, who first presented it to the public in 1924. “Spanish Rhapsody” – Ravel’s first orchestral work, inspired by his mother’s stories about his childhood spent in Madrid, and melodies from the folklore of the Basques, to which she belonged.

“Bohemian Rhapsody” – the calling card of one of the world’s greatest rock bands, Queen. This song was written by Freddie Mercury in 1975 and became the most expensive single in the history of music. Everyone finds something of their own in it, and according to the author himself, “this is one of those songs that make you fantasize. I think people should just listen to it, think about it, and then make their own assumptions about what the song said to them.”

You can buy tickets for the concert “The Best Rhapsodies of the World” at website orchestra.