Performers
Slovak Philharmonic
Ryusuke Numajiri conductor
Marian Lapšanský piano
Ivan Gajan piano
Program
Frederick Delius
On Hearing the First Cuckoo in Spring
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Concerto for 2 Pianos and Orchestra No. 10 in E flat, K. 365
Robert Schumann
Symphony No. 1 in B flat major, Op. 38 Spring
The opening orchestral fanfare, underpinned by the verse of the poet Adolf Böttger ""O turn, O turn and change your course – In the valley spring blooms forth!,"" confirms that Robert Schumann was seeking his symphonic place between Beethoven and Schubert. The composer originally gave the individual movements of the symphony programmatic titles: Spring's Arrival, Evening, Merry Playmates, Spring in Full Bloom; but he later discarded this idea. The symphonic poem by English composer Frederick Delius also has a spring undertone. The baton over the Slovak Philharmonic will be taken by the artistic director of Biwako Hall and the music director of Tokyo Mitaka Philharmonia, Ryusuke Numajiri. Nestors of the Slovak piano school, Ivan Gajan, and the former director of the Slovak Philharmonic, Marian Lapšanský, will sit behind the piano.