Eine kleine... — Mozart, Bach, Britten | Floater | Kudala | Chamber Orchestra

Performers: Anna Kudala — oboe

Piotr Pławner — violin/conductor

Silesian Chamber Orchestra

Program: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart — Divertimento in D major KV 136

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart — Serenade for string orchestra No. 13 in G major KV 525 Eine kleine Nachtmusik

Johann Sebastian Bach — Concerto in D minor for oboe and violin BWV 1060

Benjamin Britten — Simple Symphony Op. 4

The concert Eine kleine... will show how masters of different eras were able to include in intimate compositions the most beautiful melodies, elegance, finesse and extraordinary richness of emotions. The program will combine the classic lightness of Mozart, the artful polyphony of Bach and the energetic and humorous Simple Symphony of Benjamin Britten. Next to the famous Eine kleine Nachtmusik, works will sound in which the clarity of form meets the mastery of the melody and the subtlety of the string sound.

The soloists of the evening will be the oboist of the Silesian Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra Anna Kudala and Piotr Pławner — an outstanding Polish violinist, winner of the Henryk Wieniawski International Competition and winner of the ARD Competition in Munich, who will also conduct the concert as a conductor.

Mozart's Eine kleine Nachtmusik — one of the most recognizable works in the history of music — remains the quintessence of classical lightness, grace and elegance. Although to this day it is not known on what occasion the serenade was composed or whether it was intended to be part of a larger cycle, its energetic and subtle melody has delighted listeners around the world for more than two centuries.

The programme will also include Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Divertimento in D major KV 136, a piece in which the entertaining nature of 18th-century divertiment meets extraordinary compositional artistry. Mozart wrote the work in Salzburg at the beginning of 1772, when he was only sixteen years old, but already then he was an artist of international renown after his successes in Italy. Although the composition was probably intended for an intimate performance, the music impresses with its energy, clarity of form and subtle play between string instruments.

The focal point of the programme will be Johann Sebastian Bach's Concerto in D minor BWV 1060 for oboe and violin — a work of extraordinary clarity of texture and subtle dialogue between two solo instruments. The work is considered a reconstruction of the lost Bach concerto, which has survived to our time only in a later version for two harpsichords. The middle part of the concert is particularly moving — full of lyricism, concentration and Bach's characteristic inner peace. Here the composer combined the mastery of the counterpoint with the naturalness of the melody and the extraordinary elegance of the musical dialogue.

The evening will be completed by Benjamin Britten's Simple Symphony Op. 4 — a piece in which the composer with extraordinary lightness combined a child's imagination with a mature compositional skill. Britten wrote the work when he was in his twenties, using themes composed while still in childhood. The resulting music is full of humor, energy and neoclassical elegance, and at the same time extremely impressive in sound.

Each of the four parts received a distinctive title - from the exuberant Boisterous Bourrée, through the rhythmic lightness of Playful Pizzicato, to the lyrical Sentimental Sarabande and the temperamental finale. Britten has created a work that, despite its small size, impresses with its ingenuity, subtle irony and excellent sense of string sound.

CONCERT INFORMANT