During the concert on 10 April 2021 at 8.00 p.m. young musicians of the Jerzy Semkow Polish Sinfonia Iuventus Orchestra will perform works by Franz Xaver Richter, Johann Nepomuk Hummel and Ludwig van Beethoven under the baton of maestro Andrzej Kosendiak, director of the National Forum of Music, a hugely meritorious animator of cultural life in many fields. Another guest arriving from Wrocław will be the soloist of the evening, trumpeter Aleksander Kobus, applauded on many stages in Poland and abroad.

Mannheim played a particularly important role in the development of the classical symphony form. This city, and later Salzburg during Mozart’s young years, was the place of work for one of the most important precursors of the classical symphony, the Czech František Xaver Richter. This concert we will be a chance to listen to one of his charming compositions – Symphony in D-major, created at the intersection of the late Baroque Galant style and the new classicising trends.

It is hard to believe that when Beethoven noticed the first symptoms of hearing loss and went through a period of breakdown, a composition as cheerful and joyful as Symphony No. 2 was being written! An explanation to that could be composer’s need to escape from a depressed mood and thoughts of illness. In Vienna, Johann Nepomuk Hummel’s career paths crossed with those of Beethoven. Hummel’s works, somewhat forgotten today, still find favour among performers and listeners – they are technically excellent and acoustically beautiful. The listeners will be able to appreciate it while listening to his brilliant Trumpet Concerto, composed for the famous virtuoso Anton Weidinger.

Piotr Maculewicz

Media patronage: Polish Music Information Centre POLMIC.

Broadcast on YouTube channel and www.sinfoniaiuventus.pl