Programme Notes
Beethoven and Prokofiev Fri 30 October 2026 • 20.15 Sun 1 November 2026 • 14.15
PROGRAMME conductor Maxim Emelyanychev piano Alexander Melnikov Sergey Prokofiev 1891-1953 Lieutenant Kijé Suite, Op. 60 (1934) • Birth of Kijé • Romance • Kijé’s Wedding • Troika • The Burial of Kijé Sergey Prokofiev Piano Concerto No. 2 in G minor, Op. 16 (1912/13) • Andantino • Scherzo: Vivace • Intermezzo: Allegro moderato • Finale: Allegro tempestoso intermission Ludwig van Beethoven 1770–1827 Symphony No. 1 in C major, Op. 21 (1799/1800) • Adagio molto - Allegro con brio • Andante cantabile con moto • Menuetto: Allegro molto e vivace • Adagio - Allegro molto e vivace concert ends at around 22.30 / 16.15 Most recent performances by our orchestra Prokofiev Lieutenant Kijé Suite: May 1987, conductor Grzegorz Nowak Prokofiev Piano Concerto No. 2: Mar 2024, piano Daniil Trifonov, conductor Lahav Shani (on tour) Beethoven Symphony No. 1: Jan 2016, conductor Igor Gruppman One hour before the start of the concert, Kees Wisse will give an introduction (in Dutch) to the programme, admission €7,50. Tickets are available at the hall, payment by debit card. The introduction is free for Vrienden. Cover: Photo Alexandr Popadin (Unsplash)
Auditorium of the Hoftheater nächst der Burg, Vienna, where Beethoven’s Symphony No. 1 was premiered in 1800. Painting (1888) by Gustav Klimt, coll. Wien Museum
Lieutenant Kijé: poster (1934) for the film with music by Sergey Prokofiev
A new sound By the time Sergei Prokofiev wrote his Lieutenant Kijé suite, he had already shed most of his youthful exuberance. Twenty years earlier, he had given his audience quite a shock with his Piano Concerto No.2. It was the music of a young upstart, imbued with the same spirit of innovation as Beethoven’s First Symphony. In 1934, Lieutenant Kijé was one of the first sound films in the Soviet Union. The story is set in 1800, the time of Tsar Paul I, which was also the year Beethoven completed his First Symphony. Sergei Prokofiev wrote the music for it and subsequently compiled an orchestral suite. It sounds like just about the most innocent thing he ever composed, but as is so often the case with Prokofiev, nothing is quite what it seems. Lieutenant Kijé is a satire on the stupidity of the royal family and the fear of displeasing those in power, and in 1934 Russia that was a controversial theme. Not long after the film was released, the terror of Stalin’s Great Purge was to erupt. The protagonist, Lieutenant Kijé, was ‘brought into being’ by an administrative error (Part 1: The Birth of Kijé). Panic ensues amongst the military staff: what if the Tsar finds out? But it soon becomes clear that the fictitious lieutenant is a convenient scapegoat, who is blamed for a trivial incident. The Tsar subsequently exiles him to Siberia, and from that moment on, Kijé leads a life of his own: he falls in love with a princess (Part 2: Romance), marries her (Part 3: Kijé’s
Wedding) and traverses the Siberian snowcovered plains by sledge (Part 4: Troika). But one day, the Tsar summons him to court. What now? The courtiers hastily concoct a story that the poor fellow has died prematurely (Part 5: The Burial of Kijé). All’s well that ends well.
Polishing the keys
When Sergei Prokofiev wrote his Piano Concerto No. 2, he was in his early twenties and still a student. A headstrong and somewhat conceited young man who loved to go against the grain. Small wonder the premiere of his concerto, in Saint Petersburg on 23 August 1913, was a scandal. ‘A collection of mercilessly dissonant sounds that rain down on the audience like sharp, dry blows.’ So reported the Petersburg Courier. The audience cried out that they were ‘going mad’ and left the hall in droves. Prokofiev, who was playing the solo part himself, didn’t care. He thought his work was marvellous – otherwise he would not have written it – and continued unperturbed with ‘polishing the keys’ and ‘testing which key sounded a little higher
or lower’. The audience was not yet ready for those explosive dynamics, that hammering piano part (a trademark of the young Prokofiev), those capricious, unrecognisable transformations of the themes. The fact that our young composer showed so little respect for classical formal structures also did not go down well: why such an unexpected pair of fast middle movements?
The audience left the hall in droves. Prokofiev, who was playing the solo part himself, didn’t care ‘Big deal,’ thought Prokofiev. In his meticulously kept diary, there is no mention of negative reactions. He thoroughly enjoyed playing that day; he was in his element, though he had been a little nervous beforehand about a few difficult piano passages, which did indeed go wrong during the performance but which he skilfully improvised his way through, knowing full well that the audience would not notice. And besides, as it turned out, a scandal also had its advantages. For ‘scandalous’ is not infrequently synonymous with ‘interesting’: Russia’s modernist circles embraced the young upstart’s concert, and the famous impresario Sergei Diaghilev soon began making plans to turn it into a ballet.
Wrong key
1800. A new century, a new sound. Ludwig van Beethoven, aged just 29, Vienna’s most promising musician, is to make his debut with a symphonic work. The discerning Viennese public is already familiar with his piano trios, his string quartets, eight piano sonatas to date, not to mention a piano concerto. And now, the premiere of a symphony! At the
K.K. Hoftheater nächst der Burg. Tickets on sale at the theatre and from Mr Van Beethoven himself, Tiefen Graben 241, third floor. It is to take place on Wednesday 2 April, at half past six in the evening. His first major concert. Beethoven’s First Symphony proves to be no disappointment. ‘Great artistry and a wealth of new ideas,’ the Allgemeine Musikalische Zeitung will be writing enthusiastically. What is disappointing, however, is the quality of the orchestra. ‘The orchestra of the Italian opera put on a pitiful performance. Those weaknesses [...] were all the more evident because Beethoven’s compositions are difficult. In the second movement […] they played so listlessly that, despite all the conductor’s efforts, not a shred of liveliness could be extracted from it.’ The most striking feature is the opening chord. It is in the ‘wrong’ key – not the symphony’s main key of C major – and it takes quite a while for the composer to get back on track. A defiant gesture, just as one might expect from a young Beethoven. The Andante is simply magnificent, but what on earth is going on with the third movement, the minuet? Any allusion to that traditional court dance – as smuggled into the symphony by Beethoven’s teacher Haydn – has vanished. A whim, a fleeting jest, a ‘scherzo’ in fact, as Beethoven would come to call the third movement from his next symphony onwards. The beginning of the finale is equally characteristic: a witticism à la Haydn, but developed into a grand, Beethovenian romp. We hear a single note, hesitatingly followed by another three. Pause. Then four notes – the music slowly climbs upwards. Pause. Five – six – seven – yes, it turns out to be a scale, a very long introduction. After which the Allegro molto bursts forth with unbridled vitality. Stephen Westra
Photo: Andrej Grilc
Photo: Molina Visuals
Maxim Emelyanychev • Conductor
Alexander Melnikov • piano
Born: Nizhny Novgorod, Russia Current position: principal conductor Scottish Chamber Orchestra and baroque ensemble Il Pomo d’Oro, principal guest conductor Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra Education: piano and conducting in Nizhny Novgorod, conducting in Moscow with Gennadi Rozhdestvensky, fortepiano and harpsichord with Maria Uspanskaya Awards: International Competition Musica Antiqua Bruges (2010), Hans von Bülow Competition Meiningen (2012) Breakthrough: 2014 with Mozart’s Don Giovanni in the Teatro de la Maestranza, Seville Subsequently: guest appearances with the Berliner Philharmonic, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestre de Paris, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra; opera in London, Geneva, Toulouse and at the Glyndebourne Festival Debut Rotterdam Philharmonic: 2023
Born: Moscow, Russia Education: piano at the Moscow Conservatory with Lev Naumov; Sviatoslav Richter was his mentor Awards: Finalist Robert Schumann International Competition (1989), Queen Elisabeth Competition (1991) Solo appearances: Philadelphia Orchestra, Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, NDR Sinfonieorchester, hr-Sinfonieorchester, Münchner Philharmoniker, Mahler Chamber Orchestra, BBC Philharmonic, Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, Sydney Symphony Orchestra, NHK Symphony, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra; Freiburger Barockorchester, B’Rock Orchestra, Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, Utopia Orchestra Chamber music: with Andreas Staier, Jean-Guihen Queyras, Isabelle Faust, Belcea Quartet Recitals: Wigmore Hall London, Philharmonie Paris, Konzerthaus Vienna, Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Beethoven-Haus Bonn, Flagey Brussels, Prague Spring Festival, Muziekgebouw aan ‘t IJ Debut Rotterdam Philharmonic: 2004
Agenda Thu 5 November 2026 • 20.15 conductor Brad Lubman director Anne Kauffman production design Jeff Sugg chorus Nationale Koren viola Roman Spitzer Stravinsky Elegy Wolfe Fire in my mouth (NL premiere) Resonance Thu 12 november 2026 • 19.30 Maaspodium Rotterdam Ensemble Rotterdam Philharmonic dance Maas Theater en Dans concept and direction Jolanda Spoel Fri 13 November 2026 • 20.15 conductor Arie van Beek Laurenskerk Rotterdam Stravinsky Symphonies d’instruments à vent Debussy Syrinx De Leeuw Symphonies of Winds Messiaen Et exspecto ressurrectionem mortuorum House of Victory Sat 14 November 2026 • 19.30 Sun 15 November 2026 • 14.30 Theater Babel Rotterdam Ensemble Rotterdam Philharmonic players Ensemble Babel and guest actors direction and compositions Jonathan Bonny Music for Breakfast #1 Sun 15 November 2026 • 10.30 Trattoria Sophia musicians and programme: rpho. nl/eng
Musicians Honorary Conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin Lahav Shani Principal Guest Conductor Tarmo Peltokoski
Rosalinde Kluck León van den Berg Olfje van der Klein Jan Navarro Jutta Demuynck Cello Emanuele Silvestri Gustaw Bafeltowski Joanna Pachucka Daniel Petrovitsch Mario Rio Eelco Beinema Carla Schrijner Pepijn Meeuws Yi-Ting Fang Killian White Paul Stavridis
Clarinet/ Bass Clarinet Romke-Jan Wijmenga Bassoon Pieter Nuytten Lola Descours Marianne Prommel
First Violin Bassoon/ Marieke Blankestijn, Contrabassoon Concert Master Elias Agsteribbe Vlad Stanculeasa, Concert Master Horn Quirine Scheffers David Fernández Alonso Saskia Otto Felipe Freitas Maria Dingjan Wendy Leliveld Marie-José Schrijner Richard Speetjens Noëmi Bodden Laurens Otto Petra Visser Pierre Buizer Double Bass Sophia Torrenga Matthew Midgley Hadewijch Hofland Trumpet Ying Lai Green Annerien Stuker Alex Elia Jonathan Focquaert Alexandra van Beveren Arjen Leendertz Adrián Martínez Marie Duquesnoy Simon Wierenga Ricardo Neto Sarah Decamps Javier Clemen Martínez Giovanni Giardinella Mario Fernández Second Violin Trombone Charlotte Potgieter Pierre Volders Flute Laurens van Vliet Alexander Verbeek Juliette Hurel Elina Staphorsius Remko de Jager Joséphine Olech Jun Yi Dou Manon Gayet Bob Bruyn Bass trombone Eefje Habraken Rommert Groenhof Flute/Piccolo Maija Reinikainen Beatriz Baião Babette van den Berg Tuba Melanie Broers Martijn van Rijswijk Oboe Robin Veldman Karel Schoofs Timpani/ Annija Kolerta Jesús Pinillos Rivera Percussion Anja van der Maten Danny van de Wal Viola Anne Huser Oboe/Cor Anglais Ronald Ent Martijn Boom Roman Spitzer Ron Tijhuis Jesús Iberti Rubira Galahad Samson José Moura Nunes Clarinet Harp Kerstin Bonk Julien Hervé Albane Baron Janine Baller Bruno Bonansea Veronika Lénártová Alberto Sánchez García