2010 Repertoire Report- Semyon Bychkov

Next up in the Repertoire Reports for 2010 is conductor Semyon Bychkov, who was previously featured in 2008.

Maestro Bychkov seems to favor carrying a relatively small number of pieces in a year, 50 this year and 30 in 2008 when he was doing even more opera.

Anyone who has been following his career of late will know it has been a banner year, even a banner decade for Bychkov, who seems to have entered a new phase of his career as one of the great established maestri working today. It does then beg the question of whether perhaps too many of us try to do too many works, and that part of his recent success is not simply his evolving maturity as an artist, but his care in preparation. Young conductors would be well advised to consult the program listings on his website to see how carefully he seems to schedule things so that works are coming in and out of his working repertoire in a rather logical flow.

There is something to be said for really living with pieces. Bychkov has been living with Richard Strauss a lot in the last few years, and this video of him conducting the Alpine Symphony with the Berlin Phil has achieved  legendary status (mostly for the contrabass trombone playing). The whole concert is available at the Digital Concert Hall

I’d certainly love to do as much Wagner as he does, and I’m envious of all the Strauss, but I’m not sure I could go a year without conducting a Beethoven, Mozart or Haydn symphony. It’s great to see a conductor of his stature waving the flag for the Schumann Violin Concerto.

Semyon Bychkov, 2010 Repertoire Report

1. BARTOK: The Miraculous Mandarin Suite, Op 19
2. BARTOK Viola Concerto
3. BEETHOVEN: Piano Concerto No 2
4. BEETHOVEN: Piano Concerto No5 (Emperor)
5. BERLIOZ: Symphonie Fantastique
6. BRAHMS: Concerto for Violin and Cello in A minor Op 102
7. BRAHMS Symphony No 2
8. BRAHMS: Symphony No 3, Op 90, F major
9. BRAHMS: Symphony No4 Op98 in E minor
10. BRUCH: Violin Concerto no.1 in G minor
11. DUKAS: The Sorcerer’s Apprentice
12. DUTILLEUX: Métaboles
13. DVORAK: Carnival Overture Op 92
14. GLANERT: Theatrum bestiarum
15. HAYDN: Sinfonia Concertante
16. MAHLER: Symphony No.5
17. MANSURIAN: Concerto for Cello and Orchestra (World Premiere)
18. MASCAGNI: Cavalleria rusticana (Intermezzo)
19. MENDELSSOHN: Piano Concerto No 1
20. MENDELSSOHN: Violin Concerto in E minor, Op. 64
21. PUCCINI: Manon Lescaut: Intermezzo III/IV Act
22. RACHMANINOV: Piano Concerto No2
23. RACHMANINOV: Piano Concerto No 3
24. RACHMANINOV: Rhapsody on a theme of Paganini, Op 43
25. RAVEL: Le Tombeau de Couperin
26. RAVEL: La Valse
27. REVUELTAS: La Noche de los Mayas
28. ROSSINI: William Tell Overture
29. SCHOENBERG: Verklärte Nacht Op. 4
30. SCHULLER: Where the World Ends
31. SCHUMANN: Manfred Overture
32. SCHUMANN: Violin Concerto
33. SCHUMANN: Symphony No 2
34. SHOSTAKOVICH: Piano Concerto No2
35. SHOSTAKOVICH: Symphony No 1, op.10, F minor
36. SHOSTAKOVICH: Symphony No 7, op.60, C major (Leningrad)
37. R. STRAUSS: An Alpine Symphony
38. STRAUSS: Till Eulenspiegel
39. STRAUSS: Burleske d-moll fur Klavier und Orchester AV85
40. STRAUSS: Ein Heldenleben
41. STRAVINSKY: The Rite of Spring
42. TCHAIKOVSKY: Piano Concerto No 1, Op 23, B-flat minor
43. TCHAIKOVSKY: Symphony No 4
44. TCHAIKOVSKY: Symphony No 6
45. VERDI: La forza del destino Overture
46. WAGNER: Prelude, Lohengrin Act 1
47. WAGNER: Prelude & Liebestod from Tristan und Isolde
48. WAGNER: Tannhauser
49. WAGNER: Tristan, Act 2
50. WALTON: Symphony No 1

Conductor Semyon Bychkov