In Exile

Exile, loss of homeland and memory of those who have left — around these themes the program of the NFM concert of the Wrocław Philharmonic under the baton of Łukasz Borowicz was built. In addition to works by Beethoven and Ravel, Jonathan Dove's In Exile is a moving composition for cello, baritone and orchestra dedicated to Anita Lasker-Wallfisch. In The Englishman, the solo parts will belong to Raphael Wallfisch and his son Simon, a baritone.

Ludwig van Beethoven's dark, dramatic and tense Coriolan overture was written in 1807. The composer referred to the tragedy of Heinrich Joseph von Collin, inspired by semi-legendary plots from the history of ancient Rome. Gnaeus Marcius Coriolanus — the main character of the work — was a Roman chieftain who, as a result of intrigue, was banished from the Eternal City and reinforced the ranks of former enemies, seeking revenge on his kinsmen. The author based this part on two contrasting musical thoughts: the first conveys the violent and relentless character of Coriolan, the second symbolizes the pleas of his mother trying to stop the bloodshed. The next point of the program will be the works of Maurice Ravel. He was happy to reach for both old forms and dance inspirations. Both of these themes come together in the suite Couperin's Tombstone and in the Pawan for the deceased Infanta. The first of these works was created during the First World War, and each link of it was dedicated to one of the people close to the composer who died at the front. It is a collection of elegant stylizations of old dances, in which woodwind instruments play an important role. Pawan for the deceased Infanta, in turn, was written earlier. The species itself originated in Spain, and its steps were supposed to bring to mind the stately gait of a peacock. Despite the suggestive title, the piece does not refer to a specific character — rather, it remains a picture full of melancholy and reverie.

The second part of the evening will be filled with Jonathan Dove's In Exile — a composition for cello, baritone and orchestra, dedicated to the experience of exile. It was dedicated to Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, mother of Raphael Wallfisch, who was also a cellist. The artist survived Auschwitz, and after the war settled in Great Britain. In his work, the artist used poetic texts from the Middle Ages to the present, showing exile as a universal and timeless experience. Dove combined in In Exile the characteristics of the concert and the opera scene. The cello does not play the role of soloist here, but becomes the alter ego of the baritone — sometimes it takes over his thoughts, other times he adds to his part, sometimes he conducts a dialogue with him. Both artists will show different aspects of the same character: a man deprived of a homeland and longing for a lost home. The cello will be played by Raphael Wallfisch, for whom the piece was written. He will be accompanied by singer Simon Wallfisch — his son. Thanks to this, the execution of the work will acquire an additional dimension, combining the history of three generations of the Wallfisch family.