Change of the program

Antonín Dvořák
The Noon Witch, Op. 108

Bohuslav Martinů
Violin Concerto No. 1, H 226

Franz Schubert
Symphony No. 4 in C minor “Tragic” D 417

Pyotr I. Tchaikovsky
Symphony No. 5 in E minor, Op. 64

Josef Špaček – violin
Janáček Philharmonic Ostrava
Vassily Sinaisky – the chief conductor of JPO

Dvořák’s four symphonic poems inspired by Erben’s Kytice were written in 1896 and they mark the beginning of the composer’s final creative period. Out of this tetralogy (which includes also the poems The Water Goblin, The Golden Spinning Wheel and The Wild Dove) we are going to hear the Noon Witch. Very impressive is Dvořák’s “description” of the coming of the Noon Witch, which according to Janáček is set to music “so truthfully that you can almost feel the terrible shadow lurking in the strange, shambling, unusual and unsuspected harmonical steps.”

The first violin concerto composed by Martinů in Paris between 1932-1933 was not performed during his life and after his death it was considered lost, it was only discovered in 1968 in Washington. The solo part is going to be performed by Josef Špaček. He will play Guarneri’s violin from 1732. It is said that this Violin Concerto by Martinů is technically challenging but beautiful.

Schubert’s work was not fully appreciated until several decades after his death. He composed his Symphony No. 4 in 1816 at the age of nineteen. It is not entirely clear why he later gave her the title Tragic. At the time of his work, he was not going through a deplorable period at all, and the music of his work is also pathetic and dramatic rather than tragic, it has an overall relaxed and cheerful character, and its finale even sounds victorious.