Repertoire
Montsalvatge: Morphological Disintegration of Bach’s Chaconne
Szymanowski: Concerto for violin and orchestra No. 1, Op. 35
Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 3 in D major, Op. 29 ‘Polish’
Artists
Barcelona Symphony and National Orchestra of Catalonia (OBC)
Lawrence Foster, conductor
Arabella Steinbacher, violin
Program
Shortly after taking over as principal conductor of the OBC, Kazushi Ono surprised us by programming Tchaikovsky’s ‘Polish’ Symphony, a work written just before Swan Lake. Nobody could explain why it was that, during our more than 70 years of history, our orchestra had never performed it. With its freshness, bursting with joyful rhythms, it received an enthusiastic reception. And now, four years later, it’s back on the lecterns, this time under the baton of Lawrence Foster, a former conductor of the orchestra. German violinist Arabella Steinbacher, who left us speechless in the past with her performance of Tchaikovsky’s concerto, is collaborating again with the OBC, this time with Szymanowski’s concerto. This work is considered one of the best violin concertos of the 20th century and is also one of the most difficult: it amazed the audience when it was premiered in Warsaw in 1922, owing to the virtuosity demanded by the work.
