The orchestra played 5 songs totally, which were Dvorak carnival overture, Chopin Piano Concerto No.2, Mussorgsky Khovanshchina Prelude to Act One, Prokofiev Five selections from Romeo and Juliet, and Tchaikovsky 1812 overture. Among these five pieces I like the 1812 overture most, its historical background is Napoleon's invasion of Russia. Beginning with the hymn "God Preserve Thy People" played by cellos and violas, the strings played softly and sadly, created a mysterious environment. The piece moves through a mixture of pastoral and militant themes showed that the increasing distress of the Russian people at the hands of the invading French.
The atmosphere started to be tense when woodwind and brass instruments joined the strings, it seemed that the war was declared, the Battle of Borodino. The oboe, clarinets and flutes had alternate interactions with double basses, with a lot of brass instruments and percussions as the support of the piece, I could feel that how chaotic the situation in Russia was and how tiring the soldiers were. Houses were destroyed, people were in a difficult state.
The piece followed by repetition of "God Preserve Thy People”, as Moscow burns to deny winter quarters to the French. A musical chase scene appears, out of which emerges the anthem "God Save the Tsar!”. There are a lot of variations of the anthem, the middle part performed by flute, clarinet and bassoon respectively was quite relaxed, but later it returned back to the melody of the song.
Napoleon finally decided to retreat. The anthem was appeared in a faster tempo, with bells and fireworks to push to the climax of the piece. The running lines of the trumpets showed the excitement and happiness of the Russians. The last time of anthem represented the celebration of the victory of Russians. This is the first time I watched a concert with fireworks, the effect made me shocked. “Symphony under the stars” was a very memorable and outstanding concert.
