Frankfurter Museums-Gesellschaft e.V.

The year 1938 was a year of upheaval, both politically and musically. The French composer Elsa Barraine used the Russian word for "war" to title her 2nd Symphony, a work commissioned by the French Ministry of Culture and written in 1938. After the annexation of Austria and the Munich Agreement, war was in the air in Europe, and the course of events was to prove her right. But the work already points to the distant future. The war of the first movement is followed by the funeral march of the second movement, before the music returns to life in the final movement.

When Dmitri Shostakovich wrote his 5th Symphony, the Great Stalinist Terror was raging in the Soviet Union. After the Communists' scathing criticism of his opera music, Shostakovich feared for his life and sought a way to rehabilitate himself. He succeeded with his 5th Symphony, which was accepted by the state leaders as a "response to justified criticism". However, Shostakovich later said that this work had been completely misunderstood. You would have to be a complete fool not to hear that the cheers were forced.

Erich Wolfgang Korngold was already observing the European events of 1938 from Hollywood and decided not to return to Europe, but to continue to devote himself to composing Oscar-winning film music. Motifs from his film scores were later the starting point for his now famous violin concerto, which combines both Hollywood and German-Austrian Romanticism.

With Elias David Moncado (violin) and the Frankfurt Opera and Museum Orchestra under the direction of Thomas Guggeis.

Photo: Zuzanna Specjal

8.2., 11 am & 9.2., 8 pm (concert introduction one hour before the start with Andreas Bomba in the Great Hall)

Alte Oper, Großer Saal, Opernplatz 1, Frankfurt

2for1: price category 1 = 71 €, price category 2 = 62 € (tickets subject to availability)

Feb. 5-7, advance booking Alte Oper, Mon-Fri 10am-6.30pm & Sat 10am-1pm, tickets subject to availability