Last year, on December 22nd, precisely 115 years passed since its world premiere. Since then, it has continued to enchant and attract crowds of music lovers to concert halls worldwide. We are talking about Symphony No. 6 in F major, Op. 68, Pastoral, by the great Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827), which will resound in the Golden Hall tonight.
It is the only program symphony by the composer. In other words, it is a symphony with extramusical content, as indicated by its title. Beethoven's Sixth Symphony had a tremendous influence on romantic music and even contemporary film music, which, like Beethoven a century ago, seeks to describe the feelings of screen heroes through sounds.
Since this concert is an event accompanying the West Pomeranian Clarinet Festival, it couldn't miss a piece for this beautiful instrument. And it will be no ordinary piece: the Clarinet Concerto in A major, KV 622, by the most significant musical genius of all time – Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791). The melodic line is characterized by tranquillity yet not devoid of a touch of sadness, perhaps autumnal contemplation and melancholy. The second movement of this concerto – Adagio – was used in the soundtrack of the famous film Out of Africa, starring Meryl Streep and Robert Redford in the lead roles. On our stage, this magnificent piece will be performed by Swiss clarinettist Reto Bieri, hailed by critics as the "wizard of the clarinet" ("Magazine Ensemble").
As the concert's overture, we will hear the Fantasy on a Theme by Thomas Tallis by the British composer Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958).
On this evening, the Symphony Orchestra of the Szczecin Philharmonic will be conducted by maestro Case Scaglione – an outstanding American conductor.
Fragment of Beethoven's Symphony No. 6 performed by the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Jacek Kaspszyk:
