SIR MARK ELDER

Sir Mark Elder – The Sleeping Beauty

Sir Mark Elder embarks on a tour of Spain with an unmistakably Russian programme devoted to three composers especially close to both the conductor and the Orquestra de la Comunitat Valenciana. One of them is Igor Stravinsky and his brief yet ingenious Scherzo à la russe, a work infused with jazz, driven by vigorous rhythms and a burlesque spirit. It was composed towards the end of the Second World War, as was Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 9, a work “dominated by clear and transparent humour,” as the composer himself acknowledged. At heart, however, its ironic nature concealed Shostakovich’s profound unease with the Soviet regime, which he refused to appease with an epic score glorifying victory. Tchaikovsky completes this Russian triptych with an extensive selection from The Sleeping Beauty, a marvel of melodic invention, orchestral brilliance and intense emotional contrasts through waltzes, adagios, fanfares and other dances that run through his most symphonic ballet.