After returning home from his tour of Italy with sketches for a new and large-scale symphony, the young Mendelssohn very eagerly started to compose the musical piece he had in mind. The light, dance-like melodies of Mendelssohn’s four-movement Symphony in A Major are full of life. They are only overshadowed by the archaic funeral music of the second slow movement, in which Mendelssohn pays tribute to his deceased patrons, notably to Goethe and composer Carl Zelter. After the serene minuet, the composer evokes unadulterated Neapolitan virtuosity, and ends his symphony with a fierce South Italian saltarello dance. The magic of the exotic world permeates the first and most popular overture by Carl Goldmark entitled “Shakuntala”, which is based on a great Hindu epic poem of the same title. Goldmark closely follows the story of the epic poem, and his music reveals a fabulous world. The high priest’s foster daughter called Shakuntala, who lives in the grove of penitence, and Dushyanta, a king who has lost his way while hunting, fall in love at first sight. But soon they have to part, and when they meet again, the king does not recognise his desperate lover because the jealous priest robs him of the memories of the girl. The king remembers only when a previously lost token of love – the ring he has given to Shakuntala – turns up and breaks the spell: the lovers are then reunited. Our third stop on our musical journey is the Venice of the North, i.e. St. Petersburg. Glazunov’s two-movement Violin Concerto in A Minor, composed in 1904 and dedicated to Lipót Auer, enchants its audience with the help of melancholic, grandiose, sing-song melodies. The composition’s themes, which rise from lower-level registers to ethereal heights, its extreme contrasts and its joyful, dance-like final movement elevate this composition to an exceptional piece of the romantic repertoire.

Programme:

Carl GOLDMARK: Overture from Shakuntala, Op. 13

Aleksandr GLAZUNOV: Violin Concerto in A Minor, Op. 82

MENDELSSOHN: Symphony No. 4 (“Italian”) in A Major, Op. 90

---Interval---

With:

Jenő KOPPÁNDI – violin

Conductor: Gábor HORVÁTH

Organizer: Zuglo Philharmonics Budapest