| Sinfonietta Žilina Lúčnica Chorus Leoš Svárovský conductor Elena Matušová choirmaster Jakub Čižmarovič piano Jan Fišer violin Marek Štrbák organ |
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| Ján Nepomuk Hummel Alexander Albrecht Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy |
Double Concerto for Piano, Violin and Orchestra in G major, Op. 17 Missa in C for strings, mixed choir and organ – renewed premiere Symphony No. 5 in D minor, Op. 107 Reformation |
Johann Nepomuk Hummel’s Double Concerto for Piano, Violin and Orchestra in G major, Op. 17 belongs to his first concertante works, therefore it is obvious that it follows the example of older classics, not Beethoven’s one. The piece Missa in C was composed by Alexander Albrecht in the years 1901–1903 while he attended the higher classes of the Hungarian Royal Catholic Grammar School by the Clarissine church in Bratislava. Its premiere was visited also by his teacher and friend Béla Bartók. The piece is remarkable for its historical relation to old Pressburg’s grammar school life.
For Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy the 300th anniversary of the proclamation of Protestant religion in Augsburg served as an immediate impetus for the composition of the so-called Reformation Symphony. In it the young composer’s admiration for the work of Johann Sebastian Bach is reflected, too. The symphony is opened by an introduction in D major, citing the popular Protestant theme, copiously developed by Richard Wagner in his last opera Parsifal several decades later. In the final movement the theme of Luther’s Protestant choral Ein Feste Burg appears. Mendelssohn’s 5th Symphony is our contribution to the 500th anniversary of the reformation.