The Philadelphia Orchestra: Tchaikovsky's Fifth March 21, 2013

The program opens with the imperial “Entrance of the Gods” from Das Rheingold at the very beginning of the Ring. Then, skipping past 16 hours of Wagner’s music, American composer Christopher Rouse imagines a postlude to the Ring and uses the final chords of Götterdämmerung as the opening of his percussion concerto. A 1997 co-commission by The Philadelphia Orchestra, Der gerettete Alberich (Alberich Saved) is brought back this season in honor of the Wagner bi-centennial. Percussionist Colin Currie plays the role of the infamous Alberich, left to his own mischievous devices in the absence of the Gods. The second half of the program features Tchaikovsky’s Fifth Symphony, beginning with the distant call of fate that later evolves into a rousing march.

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