The Brno Philharmonic continues to celebrate its seventieth anniversary, this time looking back to its first season. This week's concerts will feature Vincent d'Indy's Symphony on a French Mountain Air, which was performed in December 1956 under the direction of František Jílek, who later became the chief conductor. Seventy years ago, Jaroslav Sháněl featured as the soloist. This time it will be Igor Ardašev, a native of Brno, whose returns to the home stage are always welcomed by the audience with enthusiasm. In addition, he will play two concerts in a single evening, quite a challenge for a soloist. Besides d'Indy's symphony, he will also play César Franck's Symphonic Variations for Piano and Orchestra.
"Igor Ardašev is one of the musicians who can deliver a world-class performance while maintaining an authentic relationship with our orchestra and our city. His decision to take on two concertos in one evening is an extraordinary event and proof of his artistic sovereignty," said Marie Kučerová, director of the Brno Philharmonic. The concerts will take place on Thursday, 26 February, and Friday, 27 February, both starting at 7 p.m. in the Janáček Theatre.
The first half with two French piano pieces will be followed by Béla Bartók's Concerto for Orchestra. "The programme thus connects the seemingly distant musical worlds of the late 19th and mid-20th centuries, its unifying idea being the search for national and personal identity through symphonic sound," said Vítězslav Mikeš, dramaturge of the Brno Philharmonic.
Both Franck and his pupil d'Indy belonged to the artistic movement that sought to emancipate French symphonic music after the Franco-Prussian War. D'Indy works with folk melodies in his symphony, as does Bartók, who draws on Eastern European folklore and links it to the Western compositional tradition.
The Brno Philharmonic Orchestra will be led by the French conductor Lucie Leguay, who is one of the world-renowned personalities of the young conducting scene. This season, she is giving a guest performance at the BBC Philharmonic, Symphonie de Montréal and Royal Stockholm Philharmonic.
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