The concert of the NFM Wrocław Philharmonic under the direction of Lawrence Foster will be filled with the works of great artists born in the 19th century – Bela Bartók, considered the greatest Hungarian composer after Liszt, and one of the most influential composers of the Romantic era – Robert Schumann.
The Romanian Dances is undoubtedly one of the most important points in Bela Bartók’s work. The composer also went down in history as a researcher of folk music and a precursor of musical ethnography. The turning point in his life came in 1904, when, as a young man, he heard authentic Hungarian folk music for the first time. In the following years, he concentrated on creating a system for collecting and analysing folk music from around the world. No wonder that this field of study had a direct influence on his compositional language. The Violin Concerto No. 2 was written towards the end of the artist’s life. The work is considered to be an extremely technically demanding masterpiece of violin literature. Bartók treated the soloist’s part not in a leading way, but as part of the entire symphonic structure. During the concert, it will be performed by the Moldovan violinist Alexandra Conunova.
“The [Second] Symphony was written in December 1845 while I was still half ill; I suppose that must be heard in it. It was only in the last movement that I felt better…” – emphasised Robert Schumann in one of his letters. It is hard to believe the composer’s words, considering the final, highly impressive form of the work. In it, Schumann turned to the great predecessors of his profession – Johann Sebastian Bach and Ludwig van Beethoven – referencing their works. The premiere of Symphony No. 2 in C major op. 61 took place in Leipzig’s Gewandhaus in November 1846. The orchestra was conducted by Felix Mendelssohn.