Leoš Janáček: Fairy tale for cello and piano, JW VII/5
Krzysztof Penderecki: Divertimento for cello solo
Alexandr Glazunov: Elegy for Cello and Piano, Op. 17
Sergei Rachmaninoff: Sonata for cello and piano in G minor, Op. 19
Two exceptional musical personalities will perform at the afternoon concert: cellist Tomáš Jamník and pianist Ivo Kahánek.
The inspiration for Janáček's Fairy Tale for cello and piano was the fairy tale of Vasily Andreyevich Zhukovsky "The Tale of Tsar Berendej, of his son Ivan the Tsarevich, of the cunning of Koshchej bezsmertnogo, and of the wisdom of Tsarina Maria, Koshchej's daughter". It is neither the first nor the last time that Janáček turns to the Russian topic. Janáček completed the first version of the story about the reckless promise of the tsar, because of which he lost his only child, on February 10, 1910. The autograph contains three sentences. The fairy tale was performed on March 13, 1910 as part of VI. sonata lessons at the Brno organ school. Subsequently, Janáček edited the composition into four parts and thus had it performed on March 12, 1912. The third version was published in print in 1923. The nature of the composition suggests that Janáček created it in years of certain hopelessness and loneliness.
Divertimento/Suite for cello solo by Krzysztof Penderecki was composed between 1994-2013. It consists of six contrasting sections written over a period of twelve years. In it, Penderecki turns to neo-romantic aesthetics and uses the dark lyrical positions of the cello with different timbres.
Young Glazunov had the unique opportunity to meet the famous Ferenc Liszt in 1884 on his European tour. The latter was enchanted by Glazunov and strongly advocated the performance of his first symphony in Weimar. When Liszt died in Bayreuth two years later, Glazun was deeply affected by the news. And precisely the Elegy for cello and piano, Op. 17, subtitled Une Pensée à François Liszt, honored this generous musical genius. Music embodies nostalgia, beautiful memories and sadness.
At the turn of the 20th century, Sergei Rachmaninov was going through a serious crisis of self-confidence, which was triggered by the considerable failure of his Symphony No. 1 in 1897. For the next three years, the composer was unable to write almost anything. When he returned to work again, among the first compositions was the Sonata for cello and piano in G minor, completed in November 1901. Fortunately, this time Rachmaninov was celebrating success. When he wrote this charming sonata, he certainly had no idea that it would be his last chamber work. After that he devoted himself only to solo piano compositions and orchestral and choral compositions.
