Verbier Festival 2017: Verbier Festival Orchestra, Mikhail Pletnev, Janine Jansen

The evening begins with a rare treat: the Prelude from Glazunov’s 1902 orchestral suite From the Middle Ages. Evoking medieval Europe through orchestral music reminiscent of opera, the suite portrays a passionate young couple, blissfully ignorant of the furious storm that surrounds them. The brilliant violinist Janine Jansen then performs Tchaikovsky’s beloved Violin Concerto in D Major, one of the most beautiful and technically-challenging of its genre. Despite the work’s success, the composer never wrote another violin concerto. Finally, the 2017 Verbier Festival closes with Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 4. The somber and spellbinding character of its opening bars recall the finale of Carmen, which Tchaikovsky had encountered on a visit to Paris. Profoundly influenced by the music and moral of Bizet’s opera, Tchaikovsky’s symphony draws on the idea behind the Latin word fatum: fate’s power, which prevents us from ever obtaining happiness, and which no one can escape.