The conductor of the Polish Sinfonia Iuventus Orchestra concert on the 9th of April 2022 at 7 p.m. in the Witold Lutosławski Concert Studio of the Polish Radio will be Wojciech Rajski, who in 2022 celebrates the 50th anniversary of his artistic work. The Hungarian double bass player Zsolt Fejérvári, the leader of the bass group at the Budapest Festival Orchestra and at the Orchester de la Suisse Romande, will be concert soloist.
The double bass is an instrument that is indispensable in the orchestra, as it creates the fondamento (the bass line in baroque scores) for the sounds of the string quintet. The instrument was rarely the centre of musical solos until the wide spectrum of its possibilities was recognised by the 19th century virtuosos. Original double bass concertos however were written even earlier by composers including Jan Křtitel Vaňhal (Johann Baptist Wanhal) His Concerto in E-flat major will be performed by the Hungarian artist.
Antonín Dvořák’s Symphony No. 8 (1889) is a work filled with joy, optimism and references to national music, but remains devoid of an extra-musical narrative. Composed during a summer vacation in Vysoká u Příbramě, the work seems to reflect the bliss and the idyllic mood of time spent amidst the beauty of nature. Ouverture Carnival from the trilogy Nature, Life and Love of the Chech composer will also sound at the concert.
In the tragic days of war inflicted by Russia the concert will start with Ukraine’s national anthem, Ще не вмерла України ні слава, ні воля (“Ukraine has not yet died, nor her glory, nor her freedom”), the lyrics of which (written by Pavlo Chubynsky) are an intended reference to the incipit of Dąbrowski’s Mazurka. Melody in A minor of Myrosław Skoryk will also be performed this evening.
Financed by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage.
Media patronage: Polish Music Information Centre POLMIC
After Piotr Maculewicz's note