Programme

Programme

Jankiel’s Concert [8’]
Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy The Hebrides Overture, Op. 26 [10’]
Robert Schumann Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 54 [31’]
I. Allegro affettuoso
II. Intermezzo. Andantino grazioso
III. Allegro vivace
Gustav Mahler Funeral Rites (Totenfeier), Symphonic Poem [20’]

Concert description

The Romantics believed in the power of music, which can transport us to other times and places, express and stir emotions, and build a community of listeners. Jankiel’s Concert from Book XII of Adam Mickiewicz’s Pan Tadeusz illustrates this belief, when the performer paints the glory of the past and hope for the future.

According to the Romantics – word, music, and image work together. This belief found its expression in the heyday of programmatic music that “tells” or “depicts” extra-musical narrative implied by the title or the text attached to the piece. Mendelssohn-Bartholdy’s Hebrides overture will transport us to the Scottish islands and mythical times. The composer also used the Fingal’s Cave title, referring to The Poems of Ossian, the Son of Fingal by James Macpherson. Mickiewicz’s Forefathers’ Eve, Part IV, in turn, inspired Gustav Mahler who composed a symphonic poem, Totenfeier (The Feast for the Dead, which later became the first movement of his Second Symphony).

However, music not only can tell a story, but also function as absolute art, for example in a solo instrumental concerto (like the one by Robert Schumann) performed by great musicians who, like Mickiewicz’s Jankiel, are known for the “skillful handling” (translation by B. Johnston) of the instrument.

– Dominika Micał, “Ruch Muzyczny”

Programme

Franz Schubert String Quartet No. 12 in C minor Quartettsatz D.703: Allegro assai [11’]
Franz Schubert String Quartet No. 14 in D minor Death and the Maiden D.810 [40’]
I. Allegro
II. Andante con moto
III. Scherzo. Allegro molto
VI. Presto

Concert description

Do composers who die young ever enter the “late style”? Late works have distinct features, as if composed under a sense of impending death.

Franz Schubert lived only 31 years. He died in 1828, having known for a few years that his health would not improve. Although his most famous String Quartet in D minor, D. 810 was written in 1824, the experience of terminal illness left traces in his music. Of course, this is also related to the title of the song, Death and the Maiden (lyrics by Matthias Claudius), whose arrangement forms the second, march-like section of the four-movement piece. The Quartettsatz from 1820, in turn, belongs to the middle period of Schubert’s oeuvre, but because of the quartet’s unusual one-movement form (although sketches of the second movement have survived), it remains one of his most enigmatic works. Less clear in structure and, compared to the composer’s other quartets, with seemingly sharper contrasts, Quartettsatz was named “an essay in deconstruction” and foreshadows the composer’s late style.

Schubert lived in Beethoven’s shadow and it was his dying request to be buried next to his master. He shared with him a special admiration for the quartet genre. His last musical wish was to hear Beethoven’s late String Quartet, Op. 131, and its was fulfilled five days before his death.

– Dominika Micał, “Ruch Muzyczny”

Programme

Boris Lyatoshynsky Grazhyna, Op. 58, Symphonic Ballad after Adam Mickiewicz [19’]
Francis Poulenc Sinfonietta [30’]
I. Allegro con fuoco
II. Molto vivace
III. Andante cantabile
IV. Finale. Prestissimo et très gai
César Franck The Accursed Huntsman (Le chasseur maudit), Symphonic Poem [15’]

Concert description

Boris Lyatoshynsky’s symphonic ballad Grażyna was written to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Adam Mickiewicz’s death. With its late-Romantic (despite the fact that it was composed in the middle of the 20th century), rich orchestration, the piece brings back the key moments of the poem, whose plot is based on the legendary battles between the Lithuanian dukes and the Teutonic Order. The text of the original poem and its musical realization by the father of modern Ukrainian music resonate with the “dark” spirit of the Romantic era, introduced into literature by, for example, Gottfried August Bürger. In addition to the most famous of his ballads, Lenora, also his ballad Der wilde Jäger (The Wild Hunter) was orchestrated by César Franck in his dark symphonic poem. The piece opens with an idyllic vision of a Sunday morning in the countryside with church bells calling for mass. However, the protagonist, the Prince, does not respect the holy day and goes hunting – for this blasphemy he is cursed by a mysterious voice in the forest and punished by demons. The chase of the demonic horde refers to the legend of the Wild Hunt, known today primarily from the Witcher game. The Gothic mood of the featured program is brightened by the unpretentious Sinfonietta by Francis Poulenc, a composer from a later era with the “classical Romantic”, Felix Mendelssohn, as its patron. This is especially evident in the Sinfonietta‘s second movement (Molto vivace), combining playfulness with mystery in a manner reminiscent of the music of the German “classical Romantic”.

– Dominika Micał, “Ruch Muzyczny”

Programme

Giuseppe Verdi Overture to the opera Nabucco [8’]
Giuseppe Verdi Perfidi!… Pietà, rispetto, amore… Recitative and Aria of Macbeth from the opera Macbeth after William Shakespeare [6’]
Gaetano Donizetti Ah! tardai troppo… O luce di quest’anima Recitative and Cavatina of Linda from the opera Linda of Chamounix [6’]
Georges Bizet aria Micaëli Je dis que rien ne m’épouvante z III aktu opery Carmen [5’]
Giuseppe Verdi Overture to the opera Un ballo in maschera (A Masked Ball) [5’]
Giuseppe Verdi Alzati! là tuo figlio… Eri tu che macchiavi quell’anima… Recitativ and aria of Renato from the opera Un ballo in maschera (A Masked Ball) after Eugene Scribe [6’]
Tatiana Papageorgiou Chopiniana, Orchestral Suite (selection, arr. for string orchestra and piano of Frédéric Chopin’s piano works: Polonaise in A major, Op. 40 No. 1, Waltz in C-sharp minor, Op. 64 No. 2, Nocturne in F major, Op. 15 No. 1, Mazurka in C major, Op. 33 No. 2, Waltz in A minor, WN 63) [20’]