Thu, 13. 3. 2025, 19.00 hrs

B5 VANISHING MIDNIGHT

Venue: Zlín Congress Centre  |  Organizer: Filharmonie Bohuslava Martinů, o.p.s.  |  Price: 390,- 330,- 280,-

Our mid-March concert presents a programme of French music featuring works by Berlioz, Chausson, Ysaÿe and Martinů, when virtuoso Daniel Matejča, one of the young generation of Czech violinists, former laureate of the Virtuosos V4+ European talent competition, and the first ever Czech winner of the prestigious Eurovision Young Musicians competition, will perform under the baton of Robert Kružík.

The concert begins with Berlioz’s Roman Carnival Overture, which was inspired by his travels there and the previous lack of success of his opera Benvenuto Cellini. The fresh, lively and spirited overture conveys the atmosphere of merriment and joy produced by the carnival celebrations.

The next piece, Ernest Chausson’s Poème, Op. 25 for violin and orchestra, was written in 1896 and is one of the highlights of the composer’s work, displaying a wealth of passionate melodies and giving the violinist ample scope to express emotion and technical skill. Chausson wrote it for the distinguished Belgian violinist and composer Eugene Ysaÿe, whose arrangement of Saint-Saëns' piano étude into the form of a Capriccio in waltz form for violin and orchestra is the next piece in the programme. Although this is a small-scale piece, it calls for remarkable technical skill and expressive ability on the part of the violinist, presenting a great challenge even for highly experienced players of that instrument.

The second half is given over entirely to Bohuslav Martinů and his remarkable cycle of symphonic poems entitled Vanishing Midnight. This composition was written in 1922 when Martinů was briefly inspired by Impressionism, a relatively rare moment in his oeuvre, and is one of the few symphonic opuses Martinů wrote in this form. This three-part set of musical poems composed in the Debussyian style with movements entitled Satyrs in a Grove of Cypresses, The Blue Hour and Shadows has not yet been performed in concert in its entirety. Over a century after it was written, therefore, Vanishing Midnight will finally receive its full concert premiere in Zlín, performed by the Bohuslav Martinů Philharmonic under the baton of its chief conductor.