Irresistible

Dmitrij Kitajenko, honorary conductor of the Gürzenich Orchestra, is unfortunately unable to conduct as planned for health reasons. Andrey Boreyko will stand in for him. For the first part of the concert, instead of the originally scheduled ballet »The Nutcracker« by Peter Tchaikovsky, he will conduct a suite compiled by himself from »Sleeping Beauty« by the same composer.

When love treads even the thorniest path, a dashing prince overcomes all obstacles and is undaunted by dangers, miracles actually happen: the sleeping beauty awakens from her hundred-year slumber and the forces of darkness are vanquished.

When Piotr Tchaikovsky wrote his ballet »The Sleeping Beauty« in 1889, he succeeded in producing another smash hit, following his first successful ballet »Swan Lake«. The composer himself considered »The Sleeping Beauty« his greatest creation for the world of pointe shoes. Tchaikovsky’s score shows its creator at the height of his creativity. In truth, »The Sleeping Beauty« is fare more than the backdrop for a ballet: it is a great symphonic triumph, masterfully instrumented and full of gripping drama. With the suite from the ballet, the Gürzenich Orchestra invites the audience to a princely wedding, Andrey Boreyko wields his baton to defeat the evil fairy, and Sleeping Beauty returns to life.

Sergei Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 2 can be interpreted as an expression of unbroken self-confidence: here, a young rebel challenges his audience, turning the world premiere into a scandal. How times change: today the work is a much-loved highlight of the repertoire – not only because of the breath-taking solo cadenza in the first movement, considered the longest and hardest in all of concert literature.