A passionate interest in contemporary music and an enthusiasm for performing new compositions is a hallmark of the art of American violin virtuoso Leila Josefowicz. She will present herself to the Ostrava audience in the violin concerto “Concentric Paths” by the contemporary British composer Thomas Adès.

Leoš Janáček
The Fiddler’s Child

Thomas Adès
Violin Concerto “Concentric Paths”, Op. 23

Alexander Borodin
Symphony No. 2 in B minor

Leila Josefowicz – violin
Janáček philharmoic Ostrava
Anna Sulkowska-Migoń – conductor

Leoš Janáček’s The Fiddler’s Child, a symphonic poem from 1913, was based on the ballad of the same name written by Svatopluk Čech. It tells the story of a poor village fiddler who died in such poverty that all that was left after him was a violin and a small child. However, the ghost of the fiddler returns at night and takes both the violin and the soul of his child with him to spare him from a pitiful existence on earth. This emotionally intense piece with a beautiful violin solo ranks among Janáček’s masterpieces.

Passionate engagement with contemporary music and enthusiasm for performing new compositions is a distinctive feature of the art of American violin virtuoso Leila Josefowicz. She will be presented to the Ostrava audience in the violin concerto “Concentric Paths” by the contemporary British composer Thomas Adès. The subtitle, which can be translated as “soustředné cesty”, is a poignant and paradoxical phrase that reflects a direction closed in a circle, from nowhere to nowhere.

During his lifetime, the Russian composer Alexander Borodin was known primarily as a distinguished scientist in the fields of medicine and chemistry. Like many of his contemporaries, he was only able to pursue composition in his spare time, which delayed his work, and by the time of his death in 1887 he had left a number of unfinished projects. The Second Symphony was composed between 1869 and 1876 in parallel with Borodin’s famous opera Prince Igor, and it too turns to Russian history in its programme.