Dominik Wagner on double bass: Bernstein, Koussevitzky & Samuel Barber
Few people have shaped the musical world of the 20th century as much as Serge Koussevitzky and his work as a composer, conductor and patron. This concert evening is intended to provide an exemplary insight into the breadth of his influence. Since its premiere in Moscow in 1905, the Double Bass Concerto has been one of the most popular works of its genre. Koussevitzky, himself a double bass player, practically wrote it to suit his instrument. Koussevitzky's time as conductor of the Boston Symphony Orchestra was characterized by remarkable concerts, recordings, commissions and premieres. Samuel Barber's Symphony No. 2, for example, was first performed under Koussevitzky's direction in 1944. A "child of war" that Barber eyed with suspicion, it deserves attention for its deeply felt slow movement alone. The concert opens with a light-footed composition by Leonard Bernstein, whose mentor was Serge Koussevitzky. The title of the "Divertimento" says it all: a series of entertaining dances, at the end of which is a tribute to the BSO - Koussevitzky's orchestra.