The season opens with a musical story book as Symphony San Jose journeys through the imaginative retelling of three classic tales: a cautionary myth by Lera Auerbach, a tragic love story by Richard Wagner, and an evening of magic from Sergei Prokofiev’s famous fairy tale ballet.
THE PROGRAM:
Lera Auerbach: Icarus
Richard Wagner: Prelude und Liebsetod from Tristan und Isolde
Sergei Prokofiev: Cinderella
ARTISTS:
Symphony San Jose
Lidiya Yankovskaya, conductor
Lidiya Yankovskaya is a fiercely committed advocate for Slavic masterpieces, operatic rarities, and contemporary works on the leading edge of classical music. She has conducted more than 40 world premieres, including 17 operas, and her strength as a visionary collaborator has guided new perspectives on staged and symphonic repertoire from Carmen and Queen of Spades to Price and Prokofiev. As Music Director of Chicago Opera Theater, her daring performances before and amid the pandemic earned recognition from the Chicago Tribune, which praised her as “the very model of how to survive adversity, and also how to thrive in it,” while naming her Chicagoan of the Year.
“A tour de force… Lidiya Yankovskaya brought forth brilliantly colored accompaniment from the orchestra, where the most exciting musical action takes place.” -- Chicago Tribune
Full Bio: https://lidiyayankovskaya.com/bio
Fun Facts:
- This program has a Russian connection. Composer Lera Auerbach and conductor Lidiya Yankovskaya were both born in Russia. Lera defected to the U.S. when she was 18 years old. Lidiya immigrated here with her family when she was just nine. And while we think of Prokofiev as a Soviet composer, he was born in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine, an area that is currently occupied by Russian forces.
- The very first chord of the Prelude is quite famous. Known as the “Tristan chord,” its hazy harmony keeps the listener guessing as to what key the music is in, thus creating a lot of tension. Spoiler alert, in the opera, that tension can only resolve through death!
- Prokofiev’s Cinderella premiered in 1945, just five years before Disney’s iconic 1950 film.
Where Have I Heard It Before:
- Wagner’s Prelude und Liebestod: Dozens of films, including Love In The Afternoon (1957), Excalibur (1981), Romeo + Juliet (1996), and Promising Young Woman (2020)
- Prokofiev’s Cinderella: Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)
Concert Length: Approximately 1 hour 50 minutes, with intermission