PROGRAMME
- César Franck: Les Éolides
- Ludwig van Beethoven: Violin Concerto in D major Op. 61
- Witold Lutosławski: Concerto for Orchestra
PERFORMERS
- Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra
- Alexander Liebreich - conductor
- Augustin Hadelich - violin
A fundamental truth about our existence
“I am very excited to perform for the first time at the Prague Spring festival!”, stated Augustin Hadelich, one of the world’s most sought-after violinists, speaking of his forthcoming appearance at the event. The concert programme, for which he teams up with the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra under Chief Conductor Alexander Liebreich, is not only appealing from the audience’s point of view, but it is also sophisticated in terms of the music itself. It presents works from three different periods – Classicism, Romanticism and the 20th century – Ludwig van Beethoven’s Violin Concerto, the rarely performed symphonic poem Les Éolides by César Franck, the 200th anniversary of whose birth we mark in 2022, and a masterpiece from Polish classic Witold Lutosławski’s folklore period. “The Beethoven Violin Concerto is one of the greatest works ever written for the violin; I have been playing it since I was 8 years old,” says Hadelich. “Every time I play the slow movement I marvel at how perfect, how simple, intimate, and human it is. Perhaps it gives us – if just for a moment – an insight into some deep, fundamental truth about our existence, a glimpse of what lies beyond,” he adds. It’s also worth mentioning that, during his recent tenure as Chief Conductor of the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra in Katowice, Alexander Liebreich made acclaimed recordings of several works by Lutosławski, among them the Concerto for Orchestra. We certainly have a treat in store.