Bogatyri – II

Aleksandr Porfir’evič Borodin (1833 - 27 febbraio 1887): Sinfonia n. 2 in si minore op. 5 (1869-76). Orchestra del Teatro Mariinskij, dir. Valerij Gergiev.

  1. Allegro
  2. Scherzo: Prestissimo (ritmo: 1/1 !) – Trio: Allegretto [7:50]
  3. Andante [13:07]
  4. Finale: Allegro [23:42]

Una delle più belle e originali composizioni sinfoniche russe del secondo Ottocento. Secondo il critico Vladimir Stasov, amico e primo biografo di Borodin, nel I movimento il compositore intese raffigurare un raduno di bogatyri, eroici guerrieri medievali russi.

Borodin, Sinfonia 2, II
I tre bogatyri

Shakespeariana – XXIII

Romeo & Juliet & Romeo & Juliet

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840 - 1893): Romeo and Juliet, overture-fantasy in B minor for orchestra, after Shakespeare’s tragedy, 1st version (1869). London Symphony Orchestra; Geoffrey Simon, conductor.


Tchaikovsky: Romeo and Juliet, definitive version (1880). London Symphony Orchestra; Valerij Gergiev, conductor.

This piece has no opus number: the reason is that Tchaikovsky honestly did not want to claim full authorship, since main themes and some elements of the structure were suggested to him by Mily Balakirev.

Shakespeariana – XX

Symphonic Hamlet

Franz Liszt (1811 - 1886): Hamlet, symphonic poem no. 10 (1858). London Philharmonic Orchestra; conductor: Bernard Haitink.


Pëtr Il’ič Čajkovskij (1840 - 1893): Hamlet, ouverture op. 67a (1889). London Symphony Orchestra; conductor: Valerij Gergiev.


Heinz Tiessen (1887 - 1971): Hamlet-Suite op.30 (1922). Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin; conductor: Israel Yinon.

  1. Vorspiel
  2. Ophelias Tod [7:12]
  3. Totenmarsch [11:34]

Delacroix, Hamlet Eugène Delacroix: Hamlet et Horatio au cimetière (1839), Paris, Louvre