[Koussevitzky, Serge. (1874-1951) & Prokofiev, Sergei. (1891-1953) & Rimsky-Korsakow, Nikolai. (1844-1908) & Mussorgsky, Modest. (1839-1881) & Duke, Vernon. (1903-1969) & Koechlin, Charles. (1867-1950)]
Grands Concerts Symphoniques - Rare Original Programs
A rare group of four original souvenir program booklets from the 1921 and 1922 seasons of the "Grands Concerts Symphoniques Serge Koussevitzky," including the program from the first concert of the first season, together with one program booklet from the 1928 season. Dated November 10, December 8, and December 15, 1921; April 20, 1922 (with Prokofiev performing the premiere of his Third Piano Concerto); and June 14, 1928. The historic concert series, organized by Koussevitzky shortly before he began his tenure with the Boston Symphony, drew from the finest musicians available in Paris and particularly showcased works by Russian composers. The attractive programs feature Art Nouveau typography on the covers, and full-page portrait photographs of the composers and performers involved, as well as advertisements. Two programs include small inserts advertising other concerts. Light to medium toning to the covers and some wear to the staple bindings (1928 program with cover partially detached); overall in fine condition. Each 8.5 x 10.5 inches (22 x 27 cm).The works performed in these programs include: on November 10, 1921 (first concert of the season), Debussy's Nuages, Ravel's Scheherazade, works by Mussorgsky, Rimsky-Korsakov, and Weber, as well as Beethoven's Fifth Symphony; on December 8, 1921 (fifth concert of the season), premières of Alexander Dmitriyevich Kastalsky's Commémoration Fraternelle and Mussorgsky's Destruction of Sennacherib, songs and arias by Rimsky-Korsakov, Glazunov, and Lyadov, and the second performance of Scriabin's Poème de l'Extase; on December 15, 1921 (sixth concert), Haydn's Symphony no. 13, sacred works by Bach and Buononcini, an aria from Die Entführung aus dem Serail, and Beethoven's Ninth Symphony; on April 20, 1922 (first concert of the season), the premiere of Prokofiev's Third Piano Concerto, with the composer at the piano, works by Rimsky-Korsakov, Borodin, Honneger, and Stravinsky, and the premiere of Charles Koechlin's La forêt païenne; and on June 14, 1928, premieres of Rimsky-Korsakov's Suite from The Maid of Pskov and the First Symphony by Vladimir Dukelsky (also known by his American name, Vernon Duke), the second act from Prokofiev's L'Ange de Feu, and Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition, orchestrated by Ravel.
The Grands Concerts Symphoniques Koussevitzky "became an important artistic expression of postwar Paris. Their vogue was something like that of Diaghilev's Ballet Russe earlier. The audiences were the finest and the smartest in Paris. Nobody who was anybody or wanted to be anybody in music could afford to ignore the Koussevitzky concerts. They were the very latest fashion, le dernier cri. Koussevitzky, still his own manager, as during most of his Russian days, had the best musicians in Paris for his concerts, and he could rehearse them adequately. He was now a conductor of singular magnetism, eloquence, and persuasiveness. He had style, not only musical style but also – what must have counted even more heavily for the Parisians – personal style, dignified, and graceful deportment…. Koussevitzky was now the grand seigneur among musicians in Paris, as he had been years before in Berlin and after that in Moscow." (Moses Smith, Koussevitzky, p. 111.) (3733)
Signed Photograph Classical Music