Programme:
Leoš Janáček
From the House of the Dead, overture for the opera

Béla Bartók
Concerto for violin and orchestra No. 2, Sz 112

Sergei Prokofiev
Symphony No. 5 in B-flat major, Op. 100

Cast:
Alena Baeva – violin
Dmitri Jurowski – conductor

The Second violin concerto is one of Bartók’s last works that is also the most readily accessible. The composition’s gypsy-like introduction theme will keep the audience thrilled all the way to the finale. This masterpiece, full of ingeniously calculated virtuoso effects, is intended for first-rate violinists, this time performed by the Russian Alena Baeva, winner of Moscow, Warsaw, and Japanese Sendai competitions.

Prokofiev wrote the Fifth Symphony during the WWII, premiering on January 13, 1945, in Moscow. His composition was emanating faith for the anticipated victory, and the vision of a better and happier life. The magnificent Fifth Symphony, filled with dramatism, is one of the best heroic Russian symphonies. “I wanted to celebrate a free, happy person, their strength, nobility, and spiritual purity. I cannot say I chose the theme – it was born within me and needed to be expressed. I wrote the kind of music that was maturing and eventually filled my soul,” said the author himself.