The concert of the NFM Wrocław Philharmonic under the baton the principal guest conductor of the Sinfonieorchester Basel, Michał Nesterowicz, will feature two compositions by German Romantic composers and a concerto by a 20th-century author from Romania.

Carl Reinecke was a German composer, pianist, conductor and teacher active in the Romantic period. In his long life, he was also associated with Wrocław for some time – in 1851 he became the director and conductor of the Singakademie. After his death, his work was quickly forgotten, as it was considered too conservative. A reminder of Reinecke’s character and achievements will be the performance of the atmospheric and cheerful Prelude to Act V of King Manfred, an opera staged for the first time in 1867 in Wiesbaden. Then we will listen to the Viola Concerto by the twentieth-century Romanian composer Wilhelm Georg Berger, whose very extensive output includes twenty-four symphonies, twenty-one string quartets, oratorios, sonatas and concertos. The accessible three-movement composition dates from 1959. The solo part will be performed by Nils Mönkemeyer, one of the most respected contemporary violists.

Symphony No. 3 in A minor by Felix Mendelssohn was created as a result of the composer’s trip to Scotland in 1829. In his letters to his family, the artist wrote about how impressed he was by the places he visited, and about starting work on a new work. He even sent a fragment that we now know as the opening theme of the Scottish Symphony. However, inspiration soon left the composer, and the work dragged on. It lasted until 1842, when the premiere of the Symphony took place in the Gewandhaus in Leipzig. The work was dedicated to Princess Victoria. Although it was the last symphony completed by Mendelssohn, due to the order in which it was published, it is now known as the Third. Interestingly, we do not know if it was Mendelssohn who chose the name “Scottish”, but the genesis of the work and its dark character with occasional references to the music of Scotland made it go down in history under this name.