Thu, 10. 3. 2022, 7.00 p.m.

A5 ALTRICHTER VIVA | ESPAÑA!

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

Falla, Rodrigo, Bizet - the names alone of the composers whose work we will hear in tonight's concert tell us that the main theme of the evening will be the melodies and rhythms of Spain.

Manuel de Falla was never one to hide his great affection for the folklore of his country, Spain, and it therefore comes as no surprise that this region's exuberant music frequently formed the basis of his compositions. The Three-Cornered Hat, a light-hearted ballet written in 1917, is undoubtedly one of the best-known of Falla's works, and it won him international fame. The work, which takes as its theme Pedro de Alarcón's comic novella about a virtuous miller's wife and the philandering local governor, is a typical example of Falla's masterful symbiosis of French musical impressionism and elements of Spanish folklore. The concert opens with the four-movement orchestral suite from the ballet, which Falla brought to completion with the collaboration of the influential ballet impresario Serge Diaghilev and the celebrated painter and sculptor Pablo Picasso.

Joaquín Rodrigo's Concierto de Aranjuez, written in 1939 and suffused with elements of Spanish folk music, is one of the best known and most sublime compositions ever written for the guitar. It has been performed countless times in the world's most prestigious venues, and tonight we hear it played by the Italian guitarist Carlotta Dalia, winner of over 20 performing arts festivals of many different kinds.

Carmen, a staple in the repertoire of just about every opera company the world over, has guaranteed immortality for its composer Georges Bizet in the way he unravels the very naturalistic tale of the astute gypsy woman and gullible soldier against the backdrop of the Andalusian countryside. If its premiere at the Paris Opéra Comique in 1875 did not exactly bring the house down, over time the opera has come to enjoy incredible popularity and is today one of the world's best known and most frequently staged productions of all time. Our programme closes with the opera's two orchestral Suites written after the composer's death by his close friend Ernest Guiraud.

At the podium with the Bohuslav Martinů Philharmonic on this occasion is the acclaimed conductor Petr Altrichter, whose long record of working regularly with this orchestra dates back to 1978.