HIDDEN TREASURES OF ROMANTICISM

JEAN SIBELIUS Karelia, overture Op. 10
KARL GOLDMARK Violin Concerto in A minor, Op. 28
JOSEF SUK Symphony No. 1 in E major, Op. 14

Jiří Vodička violin
Filharmonie Brno
conductor Robert Kružík

Jean Sibelius (1865–1957) linked his oeuvre with the Finnish national aware ness movement. His intellectual world was influenced by the Karelian-Finnish epic Kalevala (Land of Heroes), a large collection of folklore and mythology. This was impressed on the overture Karelia, Op. 10 (1893) which together with a suite of the same title, Op. 11, Sibelius wrote for the student association in Vyborg (Viipuri in Finnish) to serve as music for tableaux from Karelian history.

The Violin Concerto in A minor by the Austrian composer of Hungarian extraction Karl Goldmark (1830–1915) became more widely known in the 20th century. It can be ranked alongside the great romantic violin concertos, though unlike those by Brahms, Dvořák and Tchaikovsky, written approximately contemporaneously, Goldmark’s ranks technical brilliance over the symphonic unity of the solo part and the orchestral component.

In some respects, Josef Suk (1874–1935) in his early works drew inspiration from Antonín Dvořák. His Symphony in E major is not often heard in concert, perhaps because it is persistently described as too Dvořák-like, even if it also betrays the influence of other Romantic-era composers. We are confident that our performance will not only make the work more widely known, but also demonstrate the vitality of this music.

The concert can be purchased as a part of a full subscription at the Ticket office of Filharmonie Brno on Besední Street and online from 27 May 2024.
The concert will be sold separately from 17 June 2024.