Prokofiev’s First Violin Concerto
Bulgarian-American violinist Bella Hristova has won international acclaim for her “expressive nuance and rich tone” (The New York Times). She performs Sergei Prokofiev’s lyrical first violin concerto. Andreia Pinto Correia’s 2018 work Ciprés explores themes of trees and water. The program concludes with Dmitri Shostakovich’s first symphony, an early work revealing the composer’s profound talent.
"She brought accomplished technique, penetrating sound and probing musicianship to Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto No. 2 in G minor…it was clear that we were hearing an artist in command of what she was doing."
—Anthony Tommasini for The New York Times
Program
Andreia PINTO CORREIA / Ciprés
Sergei PROKOFIEV / Violin Concerto No. 1 in D Major, Op. 19
Dmitri SHOSTAKOVICH / Symphony No. 1 in F Minor, Op. 10
Key Notes 
- Andreia Pinto Correia took inspiration for Ciprés from Spanish poet Federico García Lorca’s poem of the same name (1898-1936).
- Prokofiev began writing his first violin concerto in 1915, but due to political unrest in Russia it did not receive its premiere until 1923 when the composer was living in Paris.
- Shostakovich’s watershed first symphony, written as a graduation assignment when he was just 18 years old, bypassed the conservatism of his professors to embrace musical language of the new 20th-century era.
Performers
Rossen Milanov, conductor
Bella Hristova, violin
