We invite you to the concert of the NFM Wrocław Philharmonic, during which you will hear three masterpieces of Romanticism: the phenomenal Midsummer Night's Dream Overture by Felix Mendelssohn, the elegant Violin Concerto No. 1 by Max Bruch, and at the end Symphony No. 2 by Jean Sibelius, one of the highest achievements of Finnish music. The orchestra will be conducted by Michał Nesterowicz, and the solo part in the second work will be performed by Korean violinist Soyoung Yoon.

Felix Mendelssohn completed the Midsummer Night's Dream Overture in August 1826 – he was only seventeen at the time. This work, characterized by a masterful orchestration and a great sense of proportion, is considered unquestionable proof of the young artist’s genius. The premiere took place in February 1827 in Szczecin (Stettin). The young composer then played the solo part of Carl Maria von Weber’s Konzertstück in F minor, and after the break, he joined the string section during the performance of Ludwig van Beethoven's Ninth Symphony.

The next piece in the programme is the work of Max Bruch, who belonged to the same generation of composers as Johannes Brahms, Edvard Grieg and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. His most famous, most frequently performed and most frequently recorded work is Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor, which will be performed during the concert in Wrocław by Soyoung Yoon. It was created in 1866, when the artist was twenty-eight years old. And although Bruch later wrote many other pieces (including two more violin concertos), none of them matched the popularity of this composition. It is light, sunny, graceful and energetic, more lyrical than spectacular.

The evening will end with Symphony No. 2 in D major by the outstanding Finnish composer – Jean Sibelius. He called it a “confession of the soul”. Other commentators saw the optimistic, triumphant finale as an expression of the independence aspirations of the Finns and called the work the “Symphony of Independence”. One thing is certain – it is a composition full of great emotions and equally great contrasts. There are both dark episodes, intriguing with the use of low registers of instruments, as well as fragments full of extraordinary dynamism, brilliance and panache. All these elements make The Second one of the most popular of all seven symphonies by Sibelius.