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Life, Love and Tchaikovsky

Inside Classical Series 1
Episode 2 of 8

Marta Gardolinska conducts the BBC National Orchestra of Wales in Bacewicz's Overture and Tchaikovsky’s Fourth Symphony. Johan Dalene joins them to perform Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto.

The BBC National Orchestra of Wales perform on home ground at Hoddinott Concert Hall in the Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff, under the baton of one of the world's most exciting young conductors, Marta Gardolinska.

The concert fittingly opens with the Overture by trailblazing Pole Grazyna Bacewicz, a celebrated female composer who wrote this work in 1943 when her country was under Nazi occupation. The sense of struggle and combat is heard within the piece with the opening rumble of the timpani, the beat of the snare drum and the brass section playing fanfares. The work also contains a musical message of hope, with the Morse code for ‘V’ (dot dot dot dash), beaten out on the timpani during the piece, symbolising victory.

Following Bacewicz's Overture, the orchestra welcomes BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artist Johan Dalene to perform Felix Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto in E minor. Swedish-born Johan, who is 20 years old, began playing the violin when he was four and made his concerto debut three years later. Mendelssohn wrote the Violin Concerto in E minor for his friend Ferdinand David, and the piece has become treasured by soloists and audiences worldwide for its lyrical melodies, fine craftsmanship and charm.

The concert ends with the orchestra performing Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s Fourth Symphony in F minor. Tchaikovsky made a start to his work on the symphony following his catastrophic marriage, which lasted just two months, to his former student Antonina Miliukova. Emerging from a profound period of writer's block, struggling with his sexuality and battling with a heavy bout of depression, it's perhaps unsurprising that the music is urgent, supercharged and, at points, violent.

Presented by Georgia Mann.

1 hour, 29 minutes

Last on

Mon 20 Jun 2022 02:25
BBC Four

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Women’s Words and VoicesSeries 1

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Music Played

Timings (where shown) are from the start of the programme in hours and minutes

  • 00:10

    Teiko Maehashi

    Concerto For Violin and Orchestra In E Minor, Op. 64/ Allegro Molto Appassionato

  • 00:10

    Leonard Bernstein, New York Philharmonic Orchestra

    Concerto For Violin and Orchestra In E Minor, Op. 64: I. Allegro Molto Appassionato

  • 00:10

    Daniel Hope

    I. Allegro Con Fuoco - Concerto For Violin and Orchestra In E Minor, Op. 64 Mendelsohn

  • 00:11

    Niki Vasilakis, Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, Sebastian Lang-Lessing

    Mendelssohn: Violin Concerto In E Minor, Op.64, Mwv O14 - 1. Allegro Molto Appassionato

  • 00:19

    New Philharmonia Orchestra, Eugene Fodor, Peter Maag

    Violin Concerto, Op. 64 In E Minor: Allegro Molto Appassionato

  • 00:25

    Joshua Bell, Academy of St. Martin In The Fields, Sir Neville Marriner

    Mendelssohn: Violin Concerto In E Minor, Op.64, Mwv O14 - 2. Andante

  • 00:29

    The Philharmonia Orchestra, Anne Akiko Meyers, Andrew Litton

    Violin Concerto In E Minor, Op. 64: II. Andante

  • 00:29

    New Philharmonia Orchestra, Eugene Fodor, Peter Maag

    Violin Concerto, Op. 64 In E Minor: Andante

  • 00:34

    New Philharmonia Orchestra, Eugene Fodor, Peter Maag

    Violin Concerto, Op. 64 In E Minor: Allegretto Non Troppo; Allegro Molto Vivace

  • 00:36

    New York Philharmonic, Leonard Bernstein, Pinchas Zuckerman, New York Philharmonic, Leonard Bernstein

    Concerto For Violin and Orchestra In E Minor, Op. 64: III. Allegretto Non Troppo; Allegro Molto VI

  • 00:36

    Midori

    Concerto In E Minor For Violin and Orchestra, Op. 64/III. Allegretto Non Troppo - Allegro Molto Vivace

  • 00:39

    Felix Mendelssohn

    Violin Concerto In E Minor Op 64, Allegro Molto Vivace

  • 00:41

    Boston Symphony Orchestra, Charles Munch

    Symphony No. 4 In F Minor, Op. 36: I. Andante Sostenuto - Moderato Con Anima

  • 00:45

    Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

    Symphony No 4 In Fminor, Op 36 - First Movement,Opening

  • 00:51

    London Philharmonic Orchestra, Paavo Berglund

    Symphony No.4 In F Minor Op.36: Andante Sostenuto - Moderato Con Anima

  • 00:58

    Pierre Monteux, Boston Symphony Orchestra

    I. Andante Sostenuto - Moderato Con Anima

  • 01:01

    Boston Symphony Orchestra, Charles Munch

    Symphony No. 4 In F Minor, Op. 36: II. Andantino In Modo Di Canzona

  • 01:02

    Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

    Symphony No 4 In F Minor Opus 36: Andantino In Modo Di Canzona

  • 01:18

    Boston Symphony Orchestra, Charles Munch

    Symphony No. 4 In F Minor, Op. 36: IV. Finale - Allegro Con Fuoco

  • 01:19

    Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

    Pyotr Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 4 In F Minor, Op. 36: IV Allegro Con Fuoco

  • 01:24

    London Philharmonic Orchestra, Paavo Berglund

    Symphony No.4 In F Minor Op.36: Finale: Allegro Con Fuoco

Credits

Presenter Georgia Mann
Performer Marta Gardolinska
Performer Johan Dalene
Performer BBC National Orchestra of Wales

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