Program Booklet

RO NOW: Rachmaninov 2

Saturday, December 2
20:30 hour until approximately 9:45 p.m.

Programme

Sergei Rachmaninov

Symphony No. 2

Sergei Rachmaninov (1873-1943)

Symphony no. 2 in e, op. 27 (1906-1907)

- Largo - Allegro moderato

- Allegro molto

- Adagio

- Allegro vivace

As a symphonist, Sergei Rachmaninov had a rough start. At the premiere of his First Symphony in 1897, he faced merciless criticism; the performance was said to be comparable to "all the Biblical plagues added together. A conductor who showed up drunk didn't help matters. It drove Rachmaninov into depression and for three years he did not write a note.

Rachmaninov devoted himself to conducting and performing as a concert pianist, which quickly rose his star. To escape from the busy life in Moscow for a while, he decided to move to Dresden with his young family in 1906. The following year, to his surprise, a friend of his received the message, "A month ago, or more, I really completed a symphony! In sketch." After a laborious elaboration of the orchestration, Rachmaninov finally conducted the first performance of his Second Symphony in St. Petersburg.

It is a grand one-hour symphony that begins dark and mysterious, with a musical motto in the cellos and basses that recurs as a unifying element in all four movements. In the scherzo, Rachmaninov also incorporates the melody of the Dies irae from the Gregorian Mass of the Dead, a theme the composer used more often. For many, the Adagio is the highlight, with wonderful soundscapes and lyrical solos by violin, clarinet, cor anglais and others. As in many Russian symphonies, all the important themes (or memories of them) from the earlier movements recur in the monumental finale, as the apotheosis of an hour of music. After the debacle of his earlier symphony, to his great relief his Second symphony was awarded the prestigious Glinka Prize.

Frans Boendermaker

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Biographies

Residentie Orkest The Hague

Orchestra

Annual reach of over 40,000 schoolchildren, adults and amateur musicians in educational projects. Part of this is The Residents, through which the orchestra brings hundreds of children from districts in The Hague into contact with classical music.

Lawrence Renes

Conductor

Dutch-Maltese conductor Lawrence Renes developed a rich career in both opera and on the concert stage. Worked regularly with the Residentie Orkest.

RO QUIZ

Has Rachmaninov been to The Hague?

Yes

Right answer: yes!

Rachmaninov also visited The Hague on his many tours. In October 1928, he arrived with his wife, his piano tuner and two grand pianos at the Hague State Railway Station, today's Central Station. The sold-out main hall of the Gebouw voor Kunsten en Wetenschappen was nearly demolished after the concert, and Rachmaninov thanked his audience with no fewer than three encores.
No

Right answer: yes!

Rachmaninov also visited The Hague on his many tours. In October 1928, he arrived with his wife, his piano tuner and two grand pianos at the Hague State Railway Station, today's Central Station. The sold-out main hall of the Gebouw voor Kunsten en Wetenschappen was nearly demolished after the concert, and Rachmaninov thanked his audience with no fewer than three encores.
Alone on the beach

Right answer: yes!

Rachmaninov also visited The Hague on his many tours. In October 1928, he arrived with his wife, his piano tuner and two grand pianos at the Hague State Railway Station, today's Central Station. The sold-out main hall of the Gebouw voor Kunsten en Wetenschappen was nearly demolished after the concert, and Rachmaninov thanked his audience with no fewer than three encores.

Right answer: yes!

Rachmaninov also visited The Hague on his many tours. In October 1928, he arrived with his wife, his piano tuner and two grand pianos at the Hague State Railway Station, today's Central Station. The sold-out main hall of the Gebouw voor Kunsten en Wetenschappen was nearly demolished after the concert, and Rachmaninov thanked his audience with no fewer than three encores.