Contrasting premieres by Tchaikovsky and Shostakovich

Synopsis

It's strange to read the doubts Tchaikovsky expressed in letters about many of his greatest musical works, which he first would dismiss as failures, only to change his mind completely a few weeks later. Take, for example, his ballet The Nutcracker, which had its premiere performance on this day in 1892 at the Mariinsky Theater in St. Petersburg.

Tchaikovsky described working on the ballet as a "dread-inspiring, feverish nightmare, so abominable that I don't think I have the strength to put it into words." At the time, Tchaikovsky was MUCH more optimistic about an opera he was writing titled Yolanta—only to abruptly changed his mind, writing "Now I think that the ballet is good and the opera nothing special." This time, Tchaikovsky got it right—although initially the opera DID prove more popular than the ballet.

Another—and deliberately nightmarish—Russian composition had its first performance on this same day 70 years later. This was the Symphony No. 13 by Dmitri Shostakovich, subtitled Babi Yar, based on poems of Yevgeny Yevtushenko. This choral symphony was first heard on today's date in 1962 at the Moscow Conservatory, but was quickly banned by the Soviet authorities. Its title poem, Babi Yar, called attention to Soviet indifference to the Holocaust and persistent anti-Semitism in Soviet society. Yevtushenko later softened these lines so the symphony could be performed in the U.S.S.R.

Music Played in Today's Program

Peter Tchaikovsky (1840-1893) The Nutcracker Ballet, Op. 71 Kirov Orchestra; Valery Gergiev, cond. Philips 462 114

Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975) Symphony No. 13, Op. 113 (Babi Yar) Nicola Ghiuselev, bass; Choral Arts Society of Washington; National Symphony; Mstislav Rostropovich, cond. Erato 85529

On This Day

Births

• 1860 - American composer and pianist Edward MacDowell, in New York City;

Deaths

• 1869 - American composer and piano virtuoso Louis Moreau Gottschalk, age 40, in Tijuca (near Rio de Janerio);

• 1919 - American composer and teacher, Horatio William Parker, age 56, in Cedarhurst, N.Y.; He became chairman of the Yale music department in 1894, where he taught the young Charles Ives;

Premieres

• 1795 - possible premiere of Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 1 in C, Op. 15 (or less likely, his Concerto No. 2 in Bb), in Vienna at a concert organized by Haydn to perform three of his "London" Symphonies in that city;

• 1880 - Tchaikovsky: "Capriccio italien," in Moscow, Nikolai Rubinstein conducting (Julian date: Dec. 6);

• 1892 - Bruckner: Symphony No. 8, with Vienna Philharmonic, Hans Richter conducting; This performance used a revised and cut version of Bruckner's original 1887 score prepared by the composer and his pupil Franz Schalk in 1889-90; The original 1887 score was first performed in 1973 by the Bournemouth Symphony for a BBC broadcast conducted by Hans-Hubert Schönzeler; The edition prepared by Robert Haas, which is based on the 1889-90 revised version but with the cuts restored, is the version most often performed today;

• 1892 - Tchaikovsky: ballet, "The Nutcracker," and opera "Iolanta," at the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg (Julian date: Dec. 6);

• 1911 - Rachmaninoff: 13 Piano Preludes, Op. 32, in St. Petersburg, by the composer (Julian date: Dec. 5);

• 1924 - Bliss: Concerto for Two Pianos, by the Boston Symphony, Serge Koussevitzsky conducting;

• 1926 - Janácek: opera "The Makropoulos Case," in Brno at the National Theater;

• 1929 - Webern: Symphony for Chamber Orchestra, in New York City;

• 1941 - Milhaud: Piano Concero No. 2, in Chicago, with the composer as soloist;

• 1962 - Shostakovich: Symphony No. 13 ("Babi Yar"), by the Moscow Philharmonic, with basso Vitaliy Gromadsky, and the bass voices of the Republican State and Gnesin Institute Choirs, Kirill Kondrashin conducting;

• 1964 - Creston: Concerto for Koto and Orchestra, by Kimio Eto (Koto soloist), with the Philadelphia Orchestra, Leopold Stokowski conducting;

• 1994 - Morten Lauridsen: “O Magnum Mysterium” for chorus, at Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles, by the Los Angeles Master Chorale, Paul Salamunovich conducting;

• 1999 - André Previn: "Three Dickinson Songs," in Quebec, Canada, by soprano Renée Fleming and pianist Richard Bado;

Others

• 1732 - John Rich opens his "Theatre Royal, Covent Garden" in London (Julian date: Dec. 7).