Alexander Borodin In the Steppes of Central Asia
Sergei Prokofiev Violin Concerto no. 2 in G minor op. 63
Antonín Dvorák Symphony no. 8 in G major op. 88
Conductor Tugan Sokhiev / Violin Viktoria Mullova

Santiago de Compostela – Grafenegg

The MCO’s summer tour to Santiago de Compostela and Grafenegg will feature an all-Slavic programme under the direction of Tugan Sokhiev: Alexander Borodin’s In the Steppes of Central Asia, Sergei Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto no. 2, and Antonin Dvorak’s Symphony no. 8.

Tugan Sokhiev first worked with the orchestra in 2004, in a performance of Prokofiev’s opera The Love for Three Oranges, of which a DVD was also made. One of fast-rising young stars of the conducting world, Sokhiev currently serves as Musical Director of the Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse.

The soloist for the Prokofiev is Russian violinist Viktoria Mullova. Her extraordinary talent captured international attention when she won first prize at the 1980 Sibelius Competition in Helsinki and the Gold Medal at the Tchaikovsky Competition in 1982 which was followed, in 1983,  by her dramatic and much publicized defection to the West.  She has since appeared with most of the world's greatest orchestras and conductors and at the major international festivals. Ms Mullova is known as a violinist of exceptional versatility and musical integrity.  Her curiosity spans the breadth of musical development from baroque and classical right up to the most contemporary influences from the world of fusion and experimental music.

The tour’s programme focuses on three works from a relatively short time span, 1880-1935. Until the middle of the 19^th century, composition of classical music was centered in the German-speaking lands, but by the later half of the century, it had begun to flourish all over Europe. Many composers thus had an interest in creating music which reflected its country of origin through music and through topic. Often, a “national sound” was achieved by use of folk-like tunes. The Russian composer Alexander Borodin, a career chemist and a hobby composer, strove for musical depiction of a caravan’s journey to the steppes in his 1880 symphonic poem; his means included representative tunes for the Central Asian caravaners and their Russian guards. Sergei Prokofiev, also a Russian, was less explicit about his Russianness in the Violin Concerto no. 2 (1935). The concerto does not depict a story as Borodin’s piece does, but does utilize folk-like melodies—and castanets in the third movement, a surprising musical displacement to Spain. Antonin Dvorak, lastly, is often credited with developing a Bohemian national style. Though Dvorak does not directly quote folk melodies in his 8^th symphony, the work, like many others by him, is composed in a self-consciously Bohemian idiom.

The first stop on the tour is Santiago de Compostela. The MCO has performed three times in the Spanish city, the last stop for pilgrims on the Camino de Santiago (Way of Saint James). Thus, it marks a longed-for destination for the many thousands of pilgrims who start out from the Pyrenees and walk the roughly 800 km to Santiago, reputedly the final resting place of St. James. The capital of the independent Spanish province of Galicia, Santiago de Compostela is located on the northwestern corner of the country, and features a stunning cathedral, a picturesque old town, and excellent cuisine.

In the Austrian city of Grafenegg the MCO will play its programme as part of the annual festival Music Summer Grafenegg. The performance will take place at the Wolkenturm, the festival’s open-air stage. Opened in 2007, the daring Wolkenturm was built with history in mind: located in the historic landscape garden of the renowned Schloss Grafenegg, the modern structure harmonizes beautifully with its surroundings. It is not only an acoustically excellent open air stage, but also a classical garden pavilion, which lends structure to the landscape garden. The interplay of castle, garden, and modern architecture creates the special ambience of the Grafenegg Music Festival.