Thu, 4. 2. 2021, 7.00 p.m.

B4 SOUNDS OF LONDON

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

The English composer Edward Elgar wrote his Cockaigne concert overture in 1900–01, building on the success of previous works. The piece, lasting 15 minutes or so, presents a lively and colourful musical portrait of Edwardian London and its people, and was an immediate success, soon becoming one of Elgar's most frequently performed works.

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, one of the greatest Russian composers, was highly respected both as a composer and conductor even in his own lifetime, with his artistic travels taking him to many places, including the British Isles. But his only violin concerto was written during a stay at Lake Geneva, and subsequently dedicated to the illustrious Russian violinist Adolf Brodsky. This exceptional work replete with exquisite melodies is considered today to be one of the most technically challenging pieces of its kind. The concerto, written in 1878, is performed by Dalibor Karvay, one of the most eminent Slovak violinists, and currently first Concert Master with the Vienna Symphony Orchestra.

Joseph Haydn's Symphony No.104, his last, was written in 1795 during a stay in London and was first performed in May of that year at the King's Theatre there, where it was well received. The four-movement work is typical of Haydn's unique compositional style and incontestable proof of his exceptional inventiveness in the symphony genre. At the podium is Leoš Svárovský, Principal Guest Conductor with the Bohuslav Martinů Philharmonic Orchestra.