A Jubille Concert of the Jerzy Semkow Polish Sinfonia Iuventus Orchestra will take place on 5 October 2019 at 7 p.m. at the Witold Lutosławski Concert Studio of the Polish Radio. The orchestra under the direction of Tadeusz Strugała will perform works by Johann Sebastian Bach, Max Bruch and Robert Schumann.
Robert Schumann’s Symphony No. 4, contrary to the numbering which suggests it is the last one from the author’s four pieces of that genre, was composed when Schumann was a very young artist. It is in fact his second symphony, composed in the same year as the first one (1841), as a birthday present to his wife Clara. The romantic aura, subtle expression and innovative, integral form make Symphony No. 4 one of the greatest and most popular compositions of the artist.
Max Bruch was a conservative composer, who valued classic forms, as opposed to “Neo-German Modernists” favoured by critics (as one of the commentators said, “this is how Mendelssohn would compose, if he lived longer”). At least one of his works, however, has gone down in history: Violin Concerto in G minor, which has become part of the canon of violin music, admired for excellent balance of form, virtuosity (the violin part was consulted with great Joseph Joachim) and romantic, post-Mendelssohn expression.
The famous part of Johann Sebastian Bach’s Orchestral Suite No. 3 in D major is the seraphic Air on the G string, very frequently arranged by other composers. The title, which is not entirely adequate, comes from its remake made in the 19th century by German violinist August Wilhelmj. During the upcoming concert, we will liten to the arrangement made by Polish composer and conductor Grzegorz Fitelberg. The concert will be the meeting place of two great, or even legendary, Polish artists: Tadeusz Strugała as the conductor, and Krzysztof Jakowicz as the soloist.
Piotr Maculewicz
Media patronage: Polish Music Information Centre POLMIC.
More information at: https://sinfoniaiuventus.pl/