Christmas with the Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra and Sergej Krylov

Performers: Lithuanian chamber orchestra Artistic director, soloist and conductor SERGEJ KRYLOV (violin)

Program: JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH – Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 in G major, BWV 1048; Violin Concerto in G minor, BWV 1056R JOSEPH HAYDN – Symphony No. 6 in D major ("Le Matin"), Hob. I:6 MAURICE RAVEL – Rhapsody "Tzigane" for violin and orchestra, M. 76 (orchestration for violin and strings by Tomas Petrikis)

In this traditional Christmas concert by the Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra and its artistic director, violinist and conductor Sergej Krylov, the Christmas spirit will be created by two works by Johann Sebastian Bach. Around 1721, he wrote six orchestral opuses and dedicated them to his patron, Margrave Christian Ludwig of Brandenburg. "Six concerts for various instruments" – that is how the author named them. This evening, the Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 in G major, BWV 1048, will be performed – here, Bach does not single out soloists, but by dividing the string orchestra into parts, he ingeniously utilizes various combinations of all string trios. We will also hear one of Bach's most popular Violin Concertos in G minor, BWV 1056R. Like other composers, Bach used material from his earlier compositions for new opuses, and the predecessor of this one is a harpsichord concerto.

The leading representative of the Viennese Classical school, Joseph Haydn, created 103 symphonies, and of the first ones, the three best known (Nos. 6, 7, and 8), created in 1761, bear the programmatic titles "Morning" ("Le Matin"), "Noon" ("Le Midi"), and "Evening" ("Le Soir"). These were the first works with which Haydn introduced himself to the Esterházy court chapel and the public. Titles for Haydn's symphonies were usually given by friends or listeners, and the title of Symphony No. 6, "Morning," is associated with the short, slow introduction of the first movement, which resembles a sunrise.

French impressionist Maurice Ravel called his rhapsody "Tzigane" for violin and orchestra a "virtuoso piece in the style of a Hungarian rhapsody." The author dedicated it to one of the most famous violinists of his generation, the Hungarian Jelly d'Arányi, who performed it for the first time in London in 1924. Interestingly, critics of the time panned the opus, calling it kitsch, a pastiche, and "instrumental acrobatics," but now the rhapsody travels triumphantly across the world's most famous stages.