Papandopulo: Symphony No. 2 & Vrzino Kolo

This production is dedicated to two orchestral works that vividly reflect Yugoslavia's "liberation strike". Before the South Slavic confederation managed to free itself from the grip of the Soviets, the doctrine of socialist realism also applied there. Papandopulo found his way out of the dilemma: his second symphony, completed in April 1946, depicts - according to the program - the artist's path to the light. This established and therefore "line-loyal" event takes place in five disparate movements - while the first two parts are new original compositions, the rest consists of existing material that the composer has artfully arranged for orchestra: this allows him to adopt a more "modern" approach at the beginning and then strike a more folk-like tone, evoking the time before the Stalinist dictatorship. The following "Vrzino kolo" for piano and orchestra is twelve years younger. The wind has shifted to the west, the seeds of modernity have blown over and triggered furious developments: based on an ancient legend, Papandopulo unleashes a wild "witches' round dance" in which a fire dragon appears, a city sprays sparks ... shrill, garish sounds that would have earned Papandopulo a bad scolding in the past.