Thu, 10. 12. 2026, 19:00 hrs.

B3 Pure Joy

Venue: Zlín Congress Centre  |  Organizer: Filharmonie Bohuslava Martinů, o.p.s.  | 

This concert programme brings together three distinctly different composers, whose varied musical languages nevertheless intertwine on a natural narrative trajectory.

We open with Bohuslav Martinů's symphonic prelude The Rock, a short orchestral work written in 1957 and commissioned by the Cleveland Orchestra for its 40th anniversary. The composition is based on the neoclassical principles of Martinů's poetics, which the author develops in the late period of his work.towards an expressively rich and dramatically constructed symphonic tableau. It was inspired by the account by the first English governor of New England, William Bradford, of the landing of the first settlers. The work takes the form of a symphonic poem, a typical orchestral fantasy in which the dramatic tension culminates in a hymn-like conclusion with clear traces of the composer's Czech roots. The piece is a celebration of the remarkable Plymouth Rock, reputedly located at the site where the first pilgrims from the Mayflower landed in December 1620 to establish the Plymouth colony on America's east coast – a stone symbolising the opportunities and freedoms that America offered to immigrants, including Martinů himself.

Next we hear Joseph Haydn's Trumpet Concerto, a key work of the Classical era's trumpet repertoire. Here, Haydn combines the virtuoso brilliance of the solo part with its cantabile qualities with admirable ease, creating a perfectly balanced dialogue between the soloist and the orchestra. Our soloist tonight is the outstanding Austrian trumpeter Selina Ott, who made history as a 20-year-old at the prestigious ARD International Music Competition as the first woman ever to win first prize in the trumpet category.

The second half features Josef Suk's Symphony in E major, an early but exceptionally remarkable work from the late 19th century. Suk's symphony evidently draws strong inspiration from the musical idiom of Antonín Dvořák, to whose legacy Suk maintained a close connection throughout his life, but at the same time it gives expression to Suk's own unique style. The four-movement cycle stands out for its lightness, clarity of sound and extraordinary emotional richness, reflecting Suk's deep belief in the power of music as a means of inner expression. The orchestra performs under the baton of the Bulgarian-born conductor Konstantin Ilievsky, currently chief conductor of the Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra.