Thu, 28. 4. 2022, 7.00 p.m.

B6 ARDAŠEV | ŠEDIVÝ

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

The common denominator of our sixth Subscription Series B concert is the piano, the inspiration of works written for that instrument, and eminent piano virtuosi of the 19th century.

Franz Liszt, a brilliant pianist of his time, long enjoyed the reputation of an unrivalled virtuoso with documentary evidence that his fiendishly energetic playing even managed to break a concert grand piano. Not to be overlooked, however, are his considerable achievements as a composer - indeed one of the best of the Romantic period, and tonight the Bohuslav Martinů Philharmonic presents his well-known Hungarian Rhapsody no. 2, one of a set of 19 rhapsodies based on tunes from his native Hungary.

Max Reger, while not a prodigy like Liszt, nonetheless made his mark in the canon of another keyboard instrument, the organ, where his works are part of that instrument's standard repertoire even today. In terms of compositional style, Reger was a resolute exponent of tradition and tried-and-tested forms. He was a great admirer of Bach, Mozart, Hiller and not least Beethoven. Reger excelled in terms of his variations, often using borrowings from Beethoven in his own compositions, and it was on Beethoven's Bagatelle no. 11, Op. 119 for piano that Reger based his own Variations on a Theme of Beethoven. The Variations were written in 1904 originally for two pianos, and Reger reworked them 11 years later as a piece for orchestra.

From an early age in his native Zwickau, Robert Schumann longed to be a pianist and after some twists and turns along the way, his aspiration was to some extent realised. However he was over-ambitious and impatient, and ruined his own prospects as a concert pianist by using a home-made wooden device intended to improve the strength and agility of his fingers. Alas this had the opposite effect of causing permanent damage to his right hand, and the young artist had to give up his ambitions as a performer, turning his attention instead to composition and the study of musical theory. His only piano concerto written in 1845 almost immediately made it one of the most popular and frequently played works of its kind, and tonight we hear it performed by Igor Ardašev, the eminent pianist and leading exponent of the Czech piano school around the world, accompanied by the Zlín Philharmonic with the conductor Marek Šedivý at the podium.