RACHMANINOV’S THIRD PIANO CONCERTO

Repertoire

Gerhard: Don Quixote Ballet
Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No. 3 in D minor Op. 30

Artists

Orquestra Simfònica de Barcelona i Nacional de Catalunya (OBC)
Josep Caballé, conductor
Barry Douglas, piano

Program

It was said that Rachmaninoff’s third concerto was so difficult that only his flying fingers could play it. Other pianists have ventured to take it on over the years and, 110 years after it was premiered, it remains one of the greatest challenges for modern soloists. Irish pianist Barry Douglas returns to Barcelona to perform this intense and spectacular piece. Don Quixote is the most profound and mature work by Catalan composer Robert Gerhard. The music switches between the contradictory worlds of the characters of Don Quixote and Sancho Panza, presenting a brilliant synthesis of the most modern musical techniques and the most classical, including folk music: “In Cervantes’ work I found something ironic, suggesting a blurring between truth and fiction”. The choreographed version staged in London in 1950 was considered the best new work of the year, alongside Igor Stravinsky’s Orpheus. This is the first time the Barcelona Symphony Orchestra has performed the entire ballet.