THE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA OF ATHENS PRESENTS WORKS BY PYOTR ILYICH TCHAIKOVSKY AND PANAGIOTIS KAROUSOS UNDER THE DIRECTION OF CONDUCTOR ELEFTHERIOS KALKANIS

PANAGIOTIS KAROUSOS
Symphony No.4 in C minor, World Premiere "Symphony of the Earth"

PYOTR ILYICH TCHAIKOVSKY
Piano Concerto No.1 (Menelaos Tsiklidis, piano)
Symphony No.6 "Pathétique"

Symphony Orchestra of Athens
Conductor Eleftherios Kalkanis

MONDAY FEBRUARY 17 20:00, 2014
Artspace City of Athens “Anna & Maria Kalouta”

Timokreontos 6A Neos Kosmos

Free Admission

Panagiotis Karousos: Symphony No.4 in C minor, "Symphony of the Earth"
The Greek Canadian composer Panagiotis Karousos wrote his “Symphony of the Earth” in the spring of 2013 in Athens. The work begins in a mysterious atmosphere. The oboe introduce sequentially with the flute a melody taken from the aria of Christ "Love one another" from the composer 's opera “The Light of Christianity”, which culminates with the violins in an ecstatic crescendo. The horns are changing the atmosphere in a more mysterious suspense. The agony intensified in a seismic forte of the full orchestra. The brass insert the theme of the Earth, while the strings holding the slow mysterious atmosphere. The two themes combined in a tragic finale of dark romanticism. The work brought the symbolic impressionism to the mystical ecstasy.

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: Piano Concerto No.1

The Piano Concerto No. 1 in B-flat minor, Op. 23

It is one of the most popular of Tchaikovsky's compositions and among the best known of all piano concerti.
The concerto follows the traditional form of three movements:

1) Allegro non troppo e molto maestoso – Allegro con spirito (B flat minor → B flat major)

2) Andantino semplice – Prestissimo (D flat major)

3) Allegro con fuoco (B flat minor → B flat major)

The first movement is initiated with four emphatic B-flat minor chords, which leads to a lyrical and passionate theme in D-flat major. This subsidiary theme never appears again throughout the movement. The main theme of the concerto is a Ukrainian folk theme which is contrasted with a romantic theme. The development section juxtaposes the folk theme with the romantic theme. The primary theme is once again recapitulated in the tonic key and the romantic theme in the tonic major. Surprisingly, the movement does not revert to the tonic minor, but instead leads to a triumphant and optimistic coda. The movement concludes in B-flat major with a drum roll.

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 6 in B minor, “Pathétique”
The Symphony No. 6 in B minor, Op. 74, Pathétique is Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's final completed symphony, written between February and the end of August 1893. The composer led the first performance in Saint Petersburg on 28 October of that year, nine days before his death. The second performance, conducted by Eduard Nápravník, took place 21 days later, at a memorial concert on 6/18 November. It included some minor corrections that Tchaikovsky had made after the premiere, and was thus the first performance of the work in the exact form in which it is known today. The first performance in Moscow was on 16 December, conducted by Vasily Safonov. (wiki)

The symphony contains four movements:
1) Adagio – Allegro non troppo
2) Allegro con grazia
3) Presto: Allegro molto vivace
4) Finale: Adagio lamentoso – Andante
Tchaikovsky in his 6th Symphony composed one of his most romantic melodies.