Thu, 31. 3. 2022, 7.00 p.m.

B5 ŠPORCL | FBM

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

The acclaimed violin virtuoso Pavel Šporcl and Zlín Philharmonic Chief Conductor Robert Kružík share a stage together, so a top-notch artistic experience is guaranteed in our end-of-March subscription concert.

Ruslan and Ludmila, Alexander Pushkin's tale in verse set in the fabled times of the Russian bogatyrs or knights-errant, has provided the inspiration for many exponents of the arts, among them Mikhail Glinka, whom many consider the notional father of Russian classical music. It was in 1842 that he completed his eponymous five-act opera based on Pushkin's epic poem, and tonight's concert opens with the opera's Overture.

The Polish composer Henryk Wieniawski devoted his life completely to the violin, which he loved, and indeed spent almost his entire life as a concert virtuoso. Although primarily a performer, he was also a composer. His output consists of no less than 24 opus pieces plus a number of lesser unnumbered works, which can be attributed to the fact that he focused more on his performing than composing. It will come as no surprise that the vast majority of his compositions were written for the violin. In addition to mazurkas, polonaises, etudes and fantasias he also wrote two violin concertos. The first, in F-sharp minor, Op. 14, was written in 1852, dedicated to King Friedrich Wilhelm IV of Prussia, and premiered in October 1853 in Leipzig. The roughly 25-minute work was originally written for Wieniawski's own private purposes and he often played it in his own concert productions.

In the second half of the concert we will hear the second suite from Prokofiev's famous ballet Romeo and Juliet. The work, which takes its theme from Shakespeare's immortal tragedy about the lovers from Verona, has become a treasure of the classical stage and even today is one of the most popular ballets of all time. Prokofiev began work on the ballet in 1935, originally writing it for the Petrograd Kirov Ballet and subsequently for the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow, but then both institutions withdrew from collaborating with the composer for political reasons. Then the Czech choreographer and director of the Brno ballet company Ivo Váňa Psota took up the cause, and created a completely new choreography to Prokofiev's music. The work had its world premiere at the end of 1938 not in Russia, but at the National Theatre in Brno.