Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts this Sunday's Philadelphia Orchestra in Concert broadcast on WRTI 90.1. It's a program comprising two major works of the 20th century: Sergei Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 2, played by one of the most talented virtuoso pianists in the world today, Yefim Bronfman; and Dmitri Shostakovich’s bold and powerful Symphony No. 4.
These two Russian composers were uneasy rivals; Prokofiev, like other prominent artists hailing from similarly privileged backgrounds, left Russia after the 1917 October Revolution, lived in America and Europe for nearly 20 years, and only returned permanently to the Soviet Union in 1936.
Shostakovich, who was 15 years younger, and whose entire career was shaped and shadowed by Soviet policies, never lived abroad. After his official condemnation in 1936, he withdrew his Fourth Symphony, and it wasn’t heard in the Soviet Union until 1961. It was just over a year later that The Philadelphia Orchestra gave the work its American premiere.
Two major works, each representing a 20th-century departure from the 19th century concepts of the concerto and the symphony, both to be enjoyed this Sunday, August 27th at 1 pm on WRTI!
During intermission, WRTI’s Debra Lew Harder speaks backstage with Yefim Bronfman, and Susan Lewis talks about the two works on the program with a member of The Philadelphia Orchestra’s second violin section, Paul Arnold.
Read the detailed program notes from the concert
PROGRAM:
Prokofiev: Piano Concerto No. 2
Yefim Bronfman, piano
INTERMISSION
Shostakovich; Symphony No. 4
Yannick Nézet-Séguin, conductor
Gregg Whiteside is producer and host of the Philadelphia Orchestra in Concert broadcasts on WRTI, every Sunday at 1 pm on WRTI 90.1, online at WRTI.org, and on the WRTI mobile app! Enjoy a rebroadcast of Sunday concerts on Mondays at 7 pm on WRTI's classical stream as part of our new "Symphony at 7" lineup!
