The harp is an instrument that appears quite rarely in a solo role. Usually, it only makes the sound of a large symphony orchestra more attractive, giving way to many other instruments. A double recital performed by two outstanding harp virtuosos, Carlos Robert Peña Montoya and Juliusz Wesołowski, will be a show of the chordophone’s sonic potential.

The evening will begin with two pieces written by prominent composers of the Baroque era. Schafe können sicher weiden is a popular, cheerful and lyrical aria from the cantata Was mir behagt, ist nur die muntre Jagd BWV 208 by Johann Sebastian Bach. In the original version, it is a work in which the main melody is entrusted to the soprano. Two in One Upon a Ground, a work by Henry Purcell, is characterized by serenity and dignity. The composer enjoyed such great recognition from his contemporaries that they called him the British Orpheus. The performance of Prélude, Fugue et Variation op. 18 by César Franck will take the audience to the Romantic era. This composition, written in 1862, is gentle and full of lyricism.

Two short works by the Spanish composer Enrique Granados will take the audience to a completely different world. Oriental and Andaluza come from the collection Doce danzas españolas, in which the artist successfully incorporated elements of Spanish music into his idiom. Intermezzo is the most famous orchestral fragment from Cavaleria rusticana. The author of this piece is Pietro Mascagni, one of the leading representatives of verism in Italian music at the turn of the 19th century. Although this work was his first opera, it immediately gained enormous popularity, which was not achieved by any of the other works by this composer.

We will also hear the suite Ma mere l’oye by Maurice Ravel, one of the most famous works based on fairy tales, in this case those by Charles Perrault. It consists of five movements, the protagonists of which are: Sleeping Beauty, Tom Thumb, Little Ugly Girl, and Beauty and the Beast. The whole is crowned with a colourful and impressive Fairy Garden. The programme of the recital also includes dances from Latin America arranged by Montoya and Wesołowski. The concert will end with two pieces by the contemporary Lithuanian composer Indrė Stakvilė Ehrhardt. These will be Stellae in coelo and Iso Vuorijärvi.