NOSPR/ Cambreling/ von Oeyen/ The hero is me

Before the concert, at 6.30 p.m., we invite you to the chamber hall for a meeting with the editor Piotr Matwieczuk (Program 2 of the Polish Radio), 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.

The Coriolan overture is one of Beethoven's most frequently performed and beloved works. It is concise, heroic and angry in the best style of a composer who perhaps saw himself a bit as a lone hero. He probably identified himself with the figure of the Shakespearean Coriolan, who resists both the plebs and the Roman elites, remaining always independent and true to himself. Formed in the 19th century, the legend absorbed this image, perpetuating in our memory the portrait of Beethoven, the cloud genius.

As a solitary struggle for artistic ideals, one can also see the work of Hector Berlioz — enfant terrible of symphonic music, blasting classical (and therefore Beethoven) musical forms in search of a truly romantic expression. The protagonist of the Fantastic Symphony is himself, experiencing a stormy love for Irish actress Harriet Smithson. “I am immersed in boundless, insatiable passion,” he wrote in a letter to a friend. The programmatic work presents in a metaphorical form the stages of obsessive falling in love.

A little distance is provided by the Piano Concerto in G minor by Camille Saint-Saëns, a popular work often referred to ironically as “from Bach to Offenbach”. It is a nod to the eclecticism of the French composer's music as a trait perceived negatively, although it could be called more elegantly: erudition. Saint-Saëns defies unambiguous assessments: he is a conservative with a very personal style, not devoid of emphasis, strong effect, sense of humor, melodic inventiveness and a note of extravagance. Let's be shamelessly honest: what we love about music!

Adam Suprynowicz (Polish Radio)

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

More concerts as part of the S2 Symphony Concert Series.

Performers: NOSPR; Andrew von Oeyen — piano

Program: Ludwig van Beethoven — Coriolan Overture in C minor, Op. 62; Camille Saint-Saëns — Piano Concerto No. 2 in G minor, Op. 22; Hector Berlioz — Fantastic Symphony, Op. 14