Thu, 18. 11. 2021, 7.00 p.m.

B2 MOZART | REQUIEM

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

The end of 2021 will be remembered in the world of music as the 230th anniversary of the death of a towering figure of musical history, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and the Bohuslav Martinů Philharmonic's second Subscription Series B concert also marks his outstanding musical legacy with one of his earliest full-scale compositions and, in contrast, his very last, thus reflecting Mozart's extraordinary talent and the scale of his maturation as a composer.

The evening opens with his Symphony No 1 in E flat major completed in 1764 at the tender age of eight, when the young Wolfgang was already being described as a child prodigy taking virtually the whole of Europe by surprise with his performing skills. The symphony was written in London during an extensive concert tour of western Europe by the Mozart family from 1763-66, but in no way is it a juvenile work unworthy of attention. In fact it is an exceptional piece of writing displaying the young Mozart's undeniable brilliance reflected in the fact that it received its first public performance in London in 1765. The symphony is strongly influenced by the music of his father, Leopold, and the musical language of Johann Christian Bach, whose acquaintance Mozart made during his stay in London receiving tuition in compositional technique from Bach for a time.

Mozart's last work, his famous D minor Requiem, is undoubtedly one of the high points in his canon. Originally written as a commission, Mozart gradually came to the realisation that he was writing his Requiem above all for himself. He never managed to complete the work, only reaching the eighth bar of the Lacrimosa movement at the words "Homo reus". The challenge of completing the Requiem was eventually taken up by Mozart's pupil František Xaver Süssmayer, thanks to whose careful work this powerful vocal and instrumental opus can be performed in its entirety.

The piece is conducted by the Bohuslav Martinů Philharmonic's Chief Conductor Robert Kružík, with the solo parts taken by leading Czech singers, and the choral part performed by the Žerotín Academic Choir led by its Choral Director Pavel Koňárek.