CPO Rush Hour

Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra's account for live tweets during our Rush Hour Concerts. Follow along when you're in a tweet seat and ask us questions!

[CPO Rush Hour @CPORush]

Thanks for joining us! Our next Rush Hour concert is Rush Hour: Best of Mozart on Friday 3 April, so come back and bring a friend. #calgaryphil
https://t.co/VR9ktGJ7Oy

[CPO Rush Hour @CPORush]

Want more? You can hear Bartók and Stravinsky again tomorrow, along with Maurice Ravel's shimmering Une barque sur l'ocean, back here at 7:30PM. https://t.co/y0m5bJ1c5a

[CPO Rush Hour @CPORush]

With that misleading ending, we take our bow and say good night!

[CPO Rush Hour @CPORush]

Any questions out there? This is your chance to ask us everything you've ever wanted to know about the orchestra!

[CPO Rush Hour @CPORush]

But then we hear the dissonant sound of Petrushka’s theme. Is this his double, or a ghost? Or is he the real thing, making the character we’ve been following the duplicate?

[CPO Rush Hour @CPORush]

@TheRBartsch

[CPO Rush Hour @CPORush]

Recognize this? We spoke to @aztrumpet about it this week! https://t.co/KYnXCcEQU4

[CPO Rush Hour @CPORush]

The Moor and Petrushka fight in the last scene of the piece, and in a twist ending, our hero falls. #spoileralert

[CPO Rush Hour @CPORush]

@c_moreland That's the best thing about music, everyone interprets it differently!

[CPO Rush Hour @CPORush]

The piece starts at the Shrovetide Fair. The music is bustling, excited, vibrant and full of activity -- stage designer Alexander Benois called it a "symphony of the street."

[CPO Rush Hour @CPORush]

... After the premiere he found out it was a current-day artist who, luckily for him, was paid out royalties from all performances. Whoops...

[CPO Rush Hour @CPORush]

As Stravinsky was finishing this work in Nice, France - he heard an organ grinder playing a catchy tune every afternoon outside his window. He assumed it was an old folk tune, so he included it in the first scene of Petrushka...

[Robin @TheRBartsch]

@CPORush Well, that was intense. 😮

[CPO Rush Hour @CPORush]

Bartók and Stravinsky had incredible influence on film music of later eras. Bernard Hermann’s famous score for Psycho is clearly indebted to Bartók, while fragments of John Williams scores like Jaws, Star Wars and E.T. can be traced back to Stravinsky.

[CPO Rush Hour @CPORush]

In the 20th century, the piano would occasionally be added to symphonic works. The piano part in Petrushka is often considered one of the most difficult to play. Tonight - played by @maestrobertsch

[CPO Rush Hour @CPORush]

Vaslav Nijinsky played the role of Petrushka in the ballet's premiere. His collaborations with Stravinsky were legendary and his contributions to the composer's success were monumental.

[CPO Rush Hour @CPORush]

Stravinsky was good friends with Pablo Picasso and Jean Cocteau, all part of Diaghilev’s circle.

[CPO Rush Hour @CPORush]

In this story, Petrushka is one of three puppets brought to life by an evil magician. He competes with his rival, the Moor, for the affection of the Ballerina.

[CPO Rush Hour @CPORush]

Stravinsky hit it big on the scene with his first ballet ‘The Firebird,’ commissioned by Sergei Diaghilev for his ‘Ballets Russes.’ You may remember 'The Firebird' from Fantasia

[CPO Rush Hour @CPORush]

And we're just getting started!

[Jason Leslie @LeslieJason]

@CPORush what an amazing start to the show.