Michalis Economou
Conductor

Ksenija Sidorova
Accordion

Carmine Lauri
Guest Leader

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Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Romeo and Juliet

Astor Piazzolla
Concerto Aconcagua

Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov
Scheherazade, Op. 35

Stories and fairy tales have long served as an inspiration to composers, as this concert directed by Michalis Economou shows.

The concert opens with Tchaikovsky’s Romeo and Juliet, which needs little introduction, particularly its ubiquitous love theme.

Rimsky-Korsakov was key in helping to develop a distinctly Russian style of classical music, which, in part, involved looking east for inspiration. His Scheherazade, inspired by the heroine of One Thousand and One Nights, is a shining example of his efforts.

The concert will also feature an unusual composition: a concerto for accordion and orchestra, with Latvian accordionist Ksenija Sidorova – a key proponent of the accordion as a classical instrument in its own right – joining the MPO to perform Astor Piazzolla’s Concerto Aconcagua. Like much of Piazzolla’s work, it was written with the bandoneón, the concertina that is characteristic of tango music that he himself played, in mind, but is naturally easily adapted to the more versatile accordion.

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