NOSPR/ Alsop/ Dueñas/ Sun in the Mist

Before the concert, at 6.30 p.m., we invite you to the chamber hall for a meeting with editor Jakub Puchalski, who will discuss the works performed that evening. Entrance to the lecture is free, to participate in the lecture is entitled to show a subscription card or a ticket to the concert. The lecture will also be broadcast live on YouTube.

It is said that after the rain, the sun always comes out. Johannes Brahms, although he knew various sayings, did not discredit his companions with this. The melancholy side of his personality reminded him that the rain would return sooner or later. The conclusions of this prediction were transferred to the pages of the Second Symphony, deeply sad according to the author's letters, and in the writings of critics — joyful and pastoral in a Beethoven way. Contrary to appearances, everyone was right, because the clear horizon is covered by a gloomy fog from time to time — perhaps as on Lake Wörthersee, where the work was composed in the summer of 1877. Eduard Hanslick probably came closest to the truth when he claimed that the work “shines like the sun [...] and yet it constantly grabs the listener's attention and makes him think.” When the echoes of the lendler and the mourning march mingle, it becomes clear why, according to some, the Second speaks most of Brahms.

Just as the clash of moods is a proven recipe for a symphony, so skillfully combining melodiousness and virtuosity is the foundation of a solo concert—even if those qualities cut off as sharply as Samuel Barber's. After the lyrical Allegro and the rhapsodic Andante, the final “perpetuum mobile” explodes and rushes without respite, even dangerously, as if illustrating an accelerating story. Although it is of little use to look for specific references to the war in the Violin Concerto, it is a witness to the year 1939, as well as the sudden departure of the composer from a tense Europe.

What anxieties does Nikolai Majkusyak's Symphony of Anxiety hide? Does she wear a tempore belli birthmark, or will the sun come out after her?

Piotr Mika (“The Musical Movement”)

Duration of the concert (including the break): approx. 110 minutes

*Co-financed from the funds of the Minister of Culture and National Heritage from the Culture Promotion Fund — a state special purpose fund, as part of the program “Composer Orders”, implemented by the National Institute of Music and Dance.

More concerts as part of the S1 symphonic concert series.

Performers: NOSPR; María Dueñas — violin

Program: Mikołaj Majkusak — Symphony of Anxiety (world premiere, commissioned by NOSPR*); Samuel Barber — Violin Concerto Op. 14; Johannes Brahms — Symphony No. 2 in D major, Op. 73