Budapest String Orchestra is launching a new series this season. Pesti Vigadó’s audience will have the opportunity to get acquainted with music from European capital cities’ past cultural life of music. The programme includes rarely heard specialities and the final piece of each evening of this series will feature a much-loved composition. The host of the series is well-known and popular music historian and compère Ádám Bősze, who has already prepared numerous series of music history performances with Budapest String Orchestra.

First event of the series: Prague

The first concert of the series “Capital Cities of Music” focuses on Czech music. Pesti Vigadó’s audience will get acquainted with the music education of the “long 19th century”. The earliest composition featured at the concert was created in the 1780s, while the latest and most modern one in 1914. This evening’s guest concertmaster invited by Budapest String Orchestra will be Franz Liszt Award winning violinist Vilmos Oláh, and the central piece of the concert, Wanhal’s cello concerto will be played by violoncellist Ditta Rohmann.

The concert ends with an often played piece: according to the composer Antonín Dvořák, his best-known composition, the 5-movement Serenade for Strings in E-major was created during a mere 12 days.

Josef Suk was not only a student of Dvořák but also married Dvořák’s daughter called Otilie. Suk composed his Meditation on the Old Czech Chorale St. Wenceslaus in 1914. The piece was initially composed first for string quartet but in the same year the version for string orchestra was also created. Duke Wenceslaus I (in Czech: Václav), who ruled between 921 and 935, is remembered as the Patron Saint of the Czech state. In fact, the Duke is very likely to have been assassinated for political reasons. Researchers were able to trace back the history of the Old Czech Chorale St. Wenceslaus (in Czech: Svatováclavský chorál) to the 1100s. This prayer-like church hymn is known in the form of a folk song in Czechia. It was not accidental that Suk prepared this piece in the year when World War I broke out. Through the piece, Suk evoked Czech national feelings thereby expressing the wish of Czechia to become independent of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy and form a Czech nation state.

Even though Johann Baptist Wanhal (according to the 20th century Czech spelling: Jan Křtitel Vaňhal, 1739–1813) was born in the territory of Czechia, he spent the majority of his professional career in Vienna and even the Viennese classical trio composed of Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven acknowledged his musical talent and art. Wanhal’s three-movement Cello Concerto in C-major was composed in 1780s.

Programme:

SUK: Meditation on the Old Czech Chorale St. Wenceslaus, Op. 35

Jan Křtitel (Baptist) VANHAL: Cello Concerto in C-major

Encore: DVORÁK: Humoresque – (adaptation for string orchestra, violin and cello solo by Rezső Ott)

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DVORÁK: Serenade for Strings in E-major, Op. 22

Soloist: Ditta ROHMANN

Organizer: Budapest Strings Foundation