Berliner Philharmoniker II

It was the inspired impresario Sergei Diaghilev who persuaded Manuel de Falla to revise his pantomimic farce El corregidor y la molinera for the Ballets Russes and compose additional dances including a vocal movement for mezzo soprano – all without quoting authentic folklore. This music “without authenticity” (de Falla) ultimately led to the creation of his two-act ballet El sombrero de tres picos, whose celebrated London premiere involved the participation of both Léonide Massine (choreography) and Pablo Picasso (stage design, decoration and costumes). The music and staging, also incorporating inspiration from the young Spanish Flamenco dancer Felix Fernandes García, would become one of the Ballets Russes’ most famous productions. The concert performance of this sun-drenched comedy in which Rinat Shaham sings the mezzo soprano part is then followed by the premiere of the Concerto for cor anglais featuring the Philharmoniker Dominik Wollenweber as soloist composed by the oboist, composer and music teacher Cathy Milliken who was director of the Berliner Philharmoniker education programme between 2005 and 2012. The second half of the concert is dedicated to Leoš Janáček’s sensuous orchestral rhapsody Taras Bulba based on Gogol and set against the background of the Ukrainian wars of liberation against Polish occupation in the 17th century. Despite the ultimate catastrophic defeat of the eponymous Cossack hero, the third and final movement (The Prophecy and Death of Tarus Bulba) culminates in a sonorous chorale, transformed by the sounds of the organ and ringing of bells into a symbol of a vision of freedom.