Programme:
Giuseppe Verdi: Aria “Ritorna vincitor!” from the opera Aida
Leoš Janáček: Act 2 “Kradla jsem” from the opera The Cunning Little Vixen
Sergei Rachmaninoff: Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No. 2 in C Minor
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 4 in F Minor, Op. 36

Cast:
Marcela Gurbaľová – soprano
Zdislava Bočková – soprano
Barbora Brabcová – piano
Janáček Philharmonic Ostrava
Darrell Ang – Conductor

Before performing two essential works of Russian music, Marcela Gurbaľová (a native of Prešov) and Zdislava Bočková (a soprano from the Janáček Academy of Music and Performing Arts in Brno) will first present two pieces from the basic soprano repertoire. Barbara Brabcová from Prague’s Academy of Performing Arts will first perform Rachmaninoff’s immensely popular and nostalgic Second Piano Concerto, which is considered to be the composer’s first great success (and perhaps even his greatest success). Then we will hear Tchaikovsky’s most vivid folk symphony, thanks mainly to the pizzicato third movement and the thrilling finale with a folk song melody about a little birch tree. The impressive conclusion includes one of the most demanding orchestral parts for percussion instruments. The young Singaporean conductor, Darrell Ang, always dreamt of visiting St. Petersburg as a child, which he eventually did – and where he was even taught conducting by the legendary Ilya Musin.