Thu, 9. 4. 2020, 7.00 p.m.

B6 FANTASTIC ROMANTICS - alternative date 20. 8. 2020

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

This Easter concert with the Bohuslav Martinů Philharmonic offers a programme of works by some of the great Romantic composers, whose early phase is represented by Beethoven's Egmont Overture completed in 1810. The complete work, consisting of the overture plus several orchestral and vocal-instrumental pieces, was written for the eponymous drama by Johann Wolfgang Goethe, the eminent German poet and great admirer of Beethoven.

Romanticism in its late stage is exemplified by the Duet–Concertino for Clarinet and Bassoon by Richard Strauss, a key figure in the last generation of European Romanticists. Written in 1947, just a year before he died, the piece is the composer's last purely instrumental work. The soloists are Jiří Kundl and Michal Kubáč, both members of our orchestra here in Zlín.

The final piece in this concert is probably the best-known work by Hector Berlioz, one of the key figures of neo-Romanticism in music. His five-movement Symphonie Fantastique, subtitled An Episode in the Life of an Artist, was written in 1830 and was inspired mainly by his unrequited love for the Irish actress Harriet Smithson. The hitherto unheard-of use of programming in the symphony genre, the composer's innovative instrumentation and the particular motifs employed in this technically challenging work made it highly successful and strongly influenced many other composers.

The Bohuslav Martinů Philharmonic Orchestra is conducted in this performance by its Chief Conductor Tomáš Brauner.