Concerts with works by

Grażyna Bacewicz

NOSPR concert at Klarafestival in Brussels

NOSPR / Alsop / Requiem as a tribute

“It is with greatest ease and willingness that I am working on this Concerto and, nota bene, I feel that this is going to be a first-class trick” – these words from a letter by Karol Szymanowski are proof of how important the Symphony No. 4 was for the composer. It was his unfulfilled dream of a “true” piano concerto. One of a pianistic tour de force, the first sketches of which he dropped to focus on the Stabat Mater he was working on back then. The moving „Peasant Requiem” (such was the title Szymanowski had originally intended for the work), born out of the pain he experienced after his niece’s death, it brings together religious ecstasy and a note of the Polish folklore to be heard in a recollection of the popular Bitter Lamentations resonating in the composer’s memory.How different was that world from the instrumental Chaconne by Krzysztof Penderecki! The latter is an expressive musical tribute to the memory of the late Polish Pope. It was this piece that provided a symbolic closure for the Polish Requiem, which Penderecki had been working on for a quarter of a century – a monumental chronicle of Poland’s modern history, the melancholic finale of which contains both a nostalgia for the baroque tradition and emotions of a surprisingly romantic nature.Róża ŚwiatczyńskaConcert duration (intermission included): approximately 90 minutes

Łucja Madziar & Thomas Hoppe

Łucja Madziar, first concertmaster of the ORF Symphony Orchestra, and her piano partner Thomas Hoppe have formed a musical duo since 2022. The multi-award-winning violinist is a regular guest at music festivals (Beethovenfest Bonn, Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Paderewski-Festival) and can look back on solo appearances, e.g. in the Grand Hall of the Vienna Konzerthaus. As a soloist, she has performed several times with the Essen Philharmonic Orchestra, the Lower Saxony State Orchestra Hanover, the Württemberg Chamber Orchestra Heilbronn, the Neubrandenburg Philharmonic Orchestra and the Folkwang Chamber Orchestra Essen. Thomas Hoppe is regarded as an outstanding piano partner and has performed as such with artists such as Itzhak Perlman, Antje Weithaas, Vilde Frang and Tabea Zimmermann. The Berlin pianist completed his training at the Juilliard School in New York City. As a member of the ATOS Trio, he performs worldwide and has won many prizes and awards.

Teatime Classics

The NOVO Quartet from Denmark currently commutes between Vienna and Copenhagen to get the final touch to its training in its studies with string quartet greats. The musicians have already scooped up many prizes. As the final concert of this season’s Teatime Classics, they combine a classic with a rare piece: one of the famous »Rasumovsky« quartets by Beethoven encounters a quartet by Grazyna Bacewicz, whose fascinating music borrows from Shostakovich, Stravinsky and Bartók – highly recommended listening! The NOVO Quartet, formed in Copenhagen in 2018, is one of the most promising young ensembles in Denmark. The quartet, which currently resides in Vienna and Copenhagen, consist of violinists Kaya Kato Møller and Nikolai Vasili Nedergaard, violist Daniel Sledzinski and cellist Signe Ebstrup Bitsch. The quartet was recently awarded the First Prize and four special prizes at the 77th Geneva International Music Competition, amongst others. The NOVO Quartet is currently studying at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna as part of the ECMAster programme under Professor Johannes Meissl. The quartet receives further musical inspirations from Hatto Beyerle (Alban Berg Quartett), Valentin Erben (Alban Berg Quartett), Heime Müller (Artemis Quartet), Asbjørn Nørgård (Danish String Quartet) and Fredrik Sjölin (Danish String Quartet). The NOVO Quartet gives concerts throughout Denmark and has also performed in countries such as China, the USA, the Netherlands, France, Switzerland, Germany, Norway, Sweden and Greenland.

Lviv National Philharmonic Orchestra / Volodymyr Syvokhip

At the centre of this extraordinary concert evening is the German premiere of »Resilience« – a Sinfonia concertante for two flutes, string orchestra and percussion by German composer Thomas Emanuel Cornelius, composed for this programme. His work is an artistic response to the challenges of our time: a sound world between fragility and strength, a musical plea for resilience, humanity and cohesion.