Overture to "Candide"

This first time I heard this piece of music, I wasn't completely taken by it. The first time I played it, I absolutely loved it. Maybe it was something about being there in the middle of the music and being able to feel the energy in the hall. This piece is high-energy, but I think that with this piece of music specifically (although some people will argue every piece of music) experiencing it live in a concert hall gives you the full effect.

You may be acquainted with the satirical novel "Candide" or sometimes known as "Optimism" by Voltaire, from which this music is modeled after. Like the literature, Leonard Bernstein's composition is full of musical "jokes" and lots of little themes seem to spring up randomly throughout the piece, as if someone had been talking and then been distracted. The percussion lays down lots of big bangs and crashes, but they are always offset by a cheerful melody in the strings or woodwinds. This music is certainly optimistic and sometimes romantic, just like Voltaire's character, Candide.

Here is the Overture to Candide with the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by the composer himself, Leonard Bernstein.

Overture to Russlan and Ludmilla

The overture to the opera "Russlan and Ludmilla" is a very popular piece for symphonic orchestra. Even if you don't know much about orchestral music, you've probably heard this piece before- perhaps on TV or in a movie. Mikhail Glinka's operas Russlan and Ludmilla, and A Life for the Czar laid the foundations of Russian national opera.

With everyone's mind on the end of the school year and graduations, I think that this music is a good fit for this time of year since it is so triumphant. This piece is already quite fast, but this recording I found is really fast. The first few seconds of the recording I was thinking "Wow this is much faster than the last recording I listened to... I'm not sure if I like this..." But after the first ten seconds, I was sold.

Here is Yevgeny Mravinsky conducting the Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra in a brilliant, rambunctious, and wonderfully energetic recording of The Overture to Russlan and Ludmilla.