Inauguration of the 25th National Festival “Stars Promote”

Don Giovanni, the second of Mozart's three operas to Lorenzo Da Ponte's libretto, was created after the huge success of The Marriage of Figaro. The libretto draws on the centuries-old legend of the ruthless seducer present in literature as early as the 17th century works of de Molina and de Cervantes. The opera, described by Mozart himself as a buff, combines comism with tragedy by including supernatural elements in the form of the ghost of the murdered Commander. His is symbolized by the first chords of the overture, which deftly summarizes the entire dramaturgy of the opera and shows the sometimes thin line between laughter and tears, as comedy clashes and intertwines with tragedy. According to a famous anecdote, Mozart began work on the overture the day before the premiere of the opera, but his notes indicate that he completed it on the same day - not without the support and motivation of his wife Constance. On October 29, 1787, the Prague audience saw Don Giovanni for the first time and gave the premiere an enthusiastic approval that helped to place the work in the iron repertoire of opera houses and place it as one of the most important positions among them.

Handel, though caused by commercial reasons in the fierce struggle for the London audience, made a remarkable contribution to the development of the concert genre. Previously closely associated with sacred music and playing the role of harmonic complement in the general bass section of the organ, with the help of Organ Concertos intended to serve as an intermezza in the entreaties of his oratorios Esther, Deborah and Athalia and the ode Alexander's Feast, they were given a solo role for the first time in history. Handel's concerts quickly gained popularity, thanks to the composer's proficiency as an organist able to extract both an impressive fullness of sound from a small (because most likely one-manual and barely four-register) positive, as well as subtlety, intimacy and lyricism. Some of the works collected in posthumously published Op. 7 have parts designated as organo ad libitum, in which Händel provided for the performance of his earlier works or the improvisation of the organist. Thanks to the preserved melodic shafts — created as a result of the collaboration of the Totumfa Handel, Johann Christoph Schmidt, with the organmaster John Langshaw on the transcription of his selected works for Catherine — it is now known that the Concerto in B major op. 7 no. 1 was to be used Passacaglia from the Harpsichord Suite in G minor HWV 432, while in the case of the Concerto op. 7 no. 4 the free part ad libitum is filled with sarabanda and variations on the theme of La Folia from the harpsichord suite in D minor HWV 437.

Symphony No. 104 is Haydn's last symphonic work and at the same time the culmination of his many years of formal research. It was written in 1795 during the composer's second stay in the English capital — hence its nickname “London”. The majestic Adagio is preceded by the energetic, monothematic Allegro, an example of masterful handling of dynamic contrasts. Andante combines melodic simplicity with innovative harmonic complexities, while the third part is distinguished by a Trio strongly based on solo wind instruments — thus departing from the traditional minuet. Energetic Spiritoso, whose theme was supposed to be inspired by Croatian melodies played on bagpipes, brings a lively ending to the symphony.

Official website of the Festival: https://gwiazdypromuja.pl/?lang=pl