Performers
Slovak Chamber Orchestra
Ewald Danel artistic leader / violin
Václav Hudeček violin
Program
Tadeáš Salva
Ballad per duodecimo archi
Johann Benda
Violin Concerto in G major (arr. by S. Dushkin)
Jean-Marie Leclair
Violin Concerto in A minor, Op. VII/5
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
The Seasons, Op. 37b
Compositions using the ballad form express the essence of Salva’s poetics distinctive by a tense expression. His musical language is based on a synthesis of Slovak folk song inspiration with techniques of the European avant-garde, mostly the Polish composing school. The concertos by Benda and Leclair come from the late Baroque or early Classicism, they are independent of the period style defined most of all by Italian violin composers and virtuosi. In these interesting and less frequently staged works the superb Czech violin virtuoso Václav Hudeček will appear as a soloist, returning to Bratislava after a longer period.
Tchaikovsky’s The Seasons were commissioned as a series of twelve piano pieces to particular months of the year carrying programme titles. For its beautiful melodies and strong potentiality the work has been appearing on world concert stages, also thanks to various transcriptions for chamber and orchestral ensembles.