Saint Petersburg-Vienna Concerto-Waltz celebrates
the link, via the Waltz, between two of the greatest musical cities of
the nineteenth century.
The Viennese waltz is the oldest of all ballroom dances. The charm, elegance,
vivacity and sophistication of this music mirrored the glitter and the joie de
vivre of old Vienna, and by the mid-nineteenth century its lilting strains and
its magic had swept all over the continent. In 1814-15, the Congress of Vienna
had re-organised Europe in the aftermath of the Napoleonic wars, and Europe,
in its turn, had been conquered by the waltz.
Then came the railways. One hundred and seventy years
ago the first railway in Russia was built to link St Petersburg with
Pavlovsk, site of the royal palace, and the railway station with its
magnificent terminal building, known as the Vokzal, was opened on 10
October 1837. Early musical ensembles invited to play there included
the band directed by Franz Gung'l (1845-48) and afterwards by Josef Gung'l,
who (with Zabel as harpist) played the summer season between 1850 and
1855.
From 6 May 1856, with his 26-man orchestra, Johann Strauss
Junior, 'The Waltz King', spent eleven summers entertaining St Petersburg
high society at Pavlovsk's 'musical train station'; thus were consolidated
the links with Vienna already established in 1852, when Strauss had composed
his Grossfürsten Marsch (op. 107) to celebrate the visit of Tsar
Nicholas and his sons to the city. Idolised by the Russian public, Strauss
achieved pop-star fame, and many of his most enduringly famous compositions
date from these visits to Pavlovsk, including the Tritsch-Tratsch Polka
and the Pizzicato Polka. Such works as the Pavlovsk Polka and the Faust-Quadrille
were published only in Russia, whilst his waltzes 'Viennese Bonbons'
and 'Parting with St Petersburg' were inspired by his love for Olga Smimitskaya,
a St Petersburg aristocrat. It is the Waltz King who can also be credited
with drawing attention to the genius of Tschaikovsky, whose 'Characteristic
Dances' he introduced to the public in 1865.
Together with his brother Josef, Johann Strauss undertook
his final Pavlovsk concert in 1869, whilst performances in 1886 at St
Petersburg and Moscow, and a single concert at Pavlovsk marked his last
visits to Russia. His creative baton was passed on to Mikhail Glinka,
whose concerts continued the tradition. In 2003, on the occasion of the
300th anniversary of St Petersburg, the Austrian consulate presented
the city with a copy of the famous sculpture of Strauss by Edmund Hellmer
that used to stand in Vienna's Stadtpark, and appropriately enough, the
statue is now one of the features of Pavlovsk.
At the turn of the 21st century, the tradition of summer
music seasons which was interrupted in 1917 has been resumed. A sixth
Grand Waltz Festival held in St Petersburg in July 2007 and a Russian
Ball in the historic Hofburg Palace in Vienna in January 2008 consolidate
these links. The aim of these new international projects is to resume
and develop cultural dialogue between Russia and Austria, and particularly
between St Petersburg and Vienna. Andres Izmaylov's Concerto-Waltz, St
Petersburg-Vienna provides a delightful link for the harp in this cultural
musical chain.
© A.G. 2007