Philharmonic at home II “Classical and modern”
LEOŠ JANÁČEK The Fiddler’s Child, ballad for orchestra, LUCIANO BERIO Folk Songs, ROBERT SCHUMANN Symphony No. 2 in C major, Op. 61
Iva Bittová mezzo-soprano, Brno Philharmonic, conductor Case Scaglione
• Orchestral ballad The Fiddler’s Child written in 1912, but only premiered in November 1917 by Prague’s Orchestral Association under the baton of Otakar Ostrčil, based on the eponymous poem by Svatopluk Čech, is a typical Janáček work in that it is a song about the human desire to be cleansed of earthly woes • Luciano Berio, the eminent 20th-century composer, and his cycle of unique renditions of folk and other songs from around the world (America, France, Sicily, Sardinia, Armenia and Azerbaijan), written in 1964 for Cathy Berberian, a singer of exceptional vocal talent • Iva Bittová, similarly distinctive singer, whose expression seems perfect for a performance of Berio’s work • Schumann’s symphony developing a Beethovenian drama, with the victorious struggle of man over fate in the finale
