拉威尔《波莱罗 D大调为管弦乐队而作的芭蕾》 /门德尔松《仲夏夜之梦》 /罗维茨基指挥

A Midsummer Night's Dream(Mendelssohn)
At two separate times,Felix Mendelssohncomposed music forWilliam Shakespeare's playA Midsummer Night's Dream(in GermanEin Sommernachtstraum). First in 1826, near the start of his career, he wrote aconcert overture(Op. 21). Later, in 1842, only a few years before his death, he wroteincidental music(Op. 61) for a production of the play, into which he incorporated the existing overture. The incidental music includes the famousWedding March.

Overture
The overture inE major, Op. 21, was written by Mendelssohn at 17 years and 6 months old (it was finished on 6 August 1826).Contemporary music scholarGeorge Grovecalled it "the greatest marvel of early maturity that the world has ever seen in music".It was written as a concert overture, not associated with any performance of the play. The overture was written after Mendelssohn had read a German translation of the play in 1826. The translation was byAugust Wilhelm Schlegel, with help fromLudwig Tieck. There was a family connection as well: Schlegel's brotherFriedrichmarried Felix Mendelssohn'sAunt Dorothea.
While aromanticpiece in atmosphere, the overture incorporates manyclassicalelements, being cast insonata formand shaped by regular phrasings and harmonic transitions. The piece is also noted for its striking instrumental effects, such as the emulation of scampering 'fairy feet' at the beginning and the braying of Bottom as an ass (effects which were influenced by the aesthetic ideas and suggestions of Mendelssohn's friend at the time,Adolf Bernhard Marx).Heinrich Eduard Jacob, in his biography of the composer, surmised that Mendelssohn had scribbled the opening chords after hearing an evening breeze rustle the leaves in the garden of the family's home.
The overture begins with four chords in the winds. Following the first theme in the parallel minor (E minor) representing the dancing fairies, a transition (the royal music of the court of Athens) leads to a second theme, that of the lovers. This is followed by the braying of Bottom with the "hee-hawing" being evoked by the strings. A final group of themes, reminiscent of craftsmen and hunting calls, brings theexpositionto a close. The fairies dominate most of thedevelopmentsection, while the Lover's theme is played in a minor key. The recapitulation begins with the same opening four chords in the winds, followed by the Fairies theme and the other section in the second theme, including Bottom's braying. The fairies return, and ultimately have the final word in thecoda, just as in Shakespeare's play. The overture ends once again with the same opening four chords by the winds.
The overture was premiered in Stettin (then inPrussia; nowSzczecin,Poland) on 20 February 1827,at a concert conducted byCarl Loewe. Mendelssohn had turned 18 just over two weeks earlier. He had to travel 80 miles through a raging snowstorm to get to the concert,which was his first public appearance. Loewe and Mendelssohn also appeared as soloists in Mendelssohn's Concerto in A-flat major for two pianos and orchestra, and Mendelssohn alone was the soloist forCarl Maria von Weber'sKonzertstück in F minor. After the intermission, he joined the first violins for a performance ofBeethoven'sNinth Symphony.
The first British performance of the overture was conducted by Mendelssohn himself, on 24 June 1829, at theArgyll Roomsin London, at a concert in benefit of the victims of the floods inSilesia, and played by an orchestra that had been assembled by Mendelssohn's friend SirGeorge Smart.

摘自:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Midsummer_Night%27s_Dream_(Mendelssohn)

Boléro
Bolérois a one-movementorchestral piece by the French composerMaurice Ravel(1875–1937). Originally composed as aballetcommissioned by Russian actress and dancerIda Rubinstein, the piece, which premiered in 1928, is Ravel's most famous musical composition.[1]
BeforeBoléro, Ravel had composed large-scale ballets (such asDaphnis et Chloé, composed for theBallets Russes1909–1912),suitesfor the ballet (such as the second orchestral version ofMa mère l'oye, 1912), and one-movement dance pieces (such asLa valse, 1906–1920). Apart from such compositions intended for a staged dance performance, Ravel had demonstrated an interest in composing re-styled dances, from his earliest successes—the 1895Menuetand the 1899Pavane—to his more mature works likeLe Tombeau de Couperin, which takes the format of adance suite.
Boléroepitomizes Ravel's preoccupation with restyling and reinventing dance movements. It was also one of the last pieces he composed before illness forced him into retirement. The two piano concertos and the song cycleDon Quichotte à Dulcinéewere the only completed compositions that followedBoléro.
Composition
The work had its genesis in a commission from the dancerIda Rubinstein, who asked Ravel to make an orchestral transcription of six pieces fromIsaac Albéniz's set ofpianopieces,Iberia. While working on the transcription, Ravel was informed that the movements had already been orchestrated by Spanish conductorEnrique Fernández Arbós, and thatcopyrightlaw prevented any other arrangement from being made. When Arbós heard of this, he said he would happily waive his rights and allow Ravel to orchestrate the pieces. However, Ravel changed his mind and decided initially to orchestrate one of his own works. He then changed his mind again and decided to write a completely new piece based on the musical form and Spanish dance calledbolero.[2]
While on vacation atSt Jean-de-Luz, Ravel went to the piano and played a melody with one finger to his friendGustave Samazeuilh, saying "Don't you think this theme has an insistent quality? I'm going to try and repeat it a number of times without any development, gradually increasing the orchestra as best I can."[2]It has been suggested that this unusual interest in repetition was caused by the onset ofprogressive aphasia.[3]
The piece was initially calledFandango, but its title was soon changed to "Boléro".
摘自:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bol%C3%A9ro