In addition to the Symphony No. 3 in C minor by Alexander Scriabin and the Violin Concerto in D major by Igor Stravinsky Rodion Shchedrin’s Third Concert for orchestra "Old Russian Circus Music" will be played on these two evenings. This work that was composed for Lorin Maazel and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in 1989 and was premiered by them in the following year, and since then has travelled to and conquered many concert stages, will be performed by the Bavarian State Orchestra under the baton of its general music director the upcoming Austrian conductor of Russian origin Kirill Petrenko this time. With this extremely demanding orchestral work that at the same time contains lots of energy and humor the composer intended to inspire his audience for the circus by showing in musical pictures the acclaimed circus troops touring from town to town "with their fancy dresses, girls with broken hearts, good-looking athletes, mischievous clowns and jealous husbands" (Shchedrin) in pre-revolutionary Russia. For those who can not attend the performance of "Old Russian Circus Music" in Munich, BR-Klassik Radio offers a live broadcast on 29 April starting at 20.03 pm. If the violists of the Bavarian State Orchestra are going to sing the melody of the famous Russian folk song "Dark Eyes" on this occasion, as it is intended by the composer in the score, remains a surprise as always with this orchestral work "peppered with effects".
