The Â鶹ԼÅÄ Philharmonic’s Leader Zoë Beyers performs as soloist today as Moritz Gnann conducts a programme of music spanning three centuries.
We open with Mozart at his most celebratory and exuberant. Symphony No. 35 ‘Haffner’ was an instant hit with the Viennese public when it premiered in 1783. Mozart’s father commissioned it on behalf of Salzburg family friend Sigismund Haffner to celebrate the ennoblement of his son, Sigismund Jnr.
As a student in the Czech Republic, AntonÃn Dvořák showed a very early talent for the violin, and today we hear some of that virtuosic gift in his 1879 Romance for violin and orchestra. It’s a piece that really showcases Dvořák’s deep understanding of classical form and romantic harmony, with beautiful flowing Slavonic melody.
Austrian composer Hans Gál’s Concertino for violin and strings seems to reflect the sense of sanctuary he found in his music. Gál completed the work in London in 1939 at a time of great political and personal upheaval, but the music itself has a lightness and an ease that belies its context.
A century earlier in 1830, Felix Mendelssohn was busy working on his Fifth Symphony, ‘Reformation’, a piece he’d intended for the 300th anniversary of the Augsburg Confession. We also hear Mendelssohn's uplifting Midsummer Night’s Dream Wedding March which came later in his career and is enduringly popular at ceremonies to this day.
Programme
Mozart: Symphony No. 35 - ‘Haffner’
Dvorak: Romance for violin and orchestra
Gál: Concertino for violin and strings Op. 52
Mendelssohn:
Symphony No. 5 - ‘Reformation’
A Midsummer Night's Dream - Wedding March
