Daniele Gatti conducts Debussy, Shostakovich and Tchaikovsky — With Julian Rachlin and the Orchestre National de France

This exceptional concert presents a quintessentially French work by Debussy: Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune (Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun), an evocative 1894 work inspired by Greek mythology by way of a Stéphane Mallarmé poem, so singular and audacious in its conception that Pierre Boulez considered its composition as the beginning of modern music. 

Debussy's masterful symphonic poem gives way to one of the most technically demanding pieces in the violin repertoire: Shostakovich's Violin Concerto No. 1, originally written in 1947-48 and set aside for seven years while the composer was battling Soviet censorship. Finally, the concert ends with Tchaikovsky’s Fifth Symphony, a monumental work that has overcome an initially tepid reception to become one of the most beloved symphonies in Russia and all over the world.

Julian Rachlin plays the 1704 "ex Liebig" Stradivari.

Photo:  © Chris Lee

This webcast is sponsored by:
- Austrian Association of "Julian Rachlin & Friends,"
- Dkfm. Angelika Prokopp Privatstiftung,
- Michael Strauss.

Executive sponsor of the webcast:
- George Votis