Mariss Jansons conducts the Concertgebouworkest in Prokofiev’s Symphony No. 5. In 1945, the audience interpreted this grandiose and compelling music as a sign of hope for the future.
Sergei Prokofiev’s Fifth Symphony was composed during the Second World War and was therefore referred to as his ‘war symphony’. At the time of its premiere in 1945 the Soviet Union was well on track for a victory over Germany and the worst of the war was soon to be over. Prokofiev himself said – politically correctly – about the Fifth Symphony: “I thought of it as a work glorifying the human spirit. I wanted to sing of mankind free and happy; his strength, his generosity and the purity of his soul.”
Mariss Jansons was chief conductor of the Concertgebouworkest from 2004 to 2015. He has made numerous appearances throughout the world as a guest conductor of the Berlin, the Vienna and the London Philharmonic Orchestras, as well as the leading orchestras in the United States. Mariss Jansons has been music director of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra ever since 2003.
Sergei Prokofiev’s Fifth Symphony was composed during the Second World War and was therefore referred to as his ‘war symphony’. At the time of its premiere in 1945 the Soviet Union was well on track for a victory over Germany and the worst of the war was soon to be over. Prokofiev himself said – politically correctly – about the Fifth Symphony: “I thought of it as a work glorifying the human spirit. I wanted to sing of mankind free and happy; his strength, his generosity and the purity of his soul.”
Mariss Jansons was chief conductor of the Concertgebouworkest from 2004 to 2015. He has made numerous appearances throughout the world as a guest conductor of the Berlin, the Vienna and the London Philharmonic Orchestras, as well as the leading orchestras in the United States. Mariss Jansons has been music director of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra ever since 2003.
