Jan Mráček and the Musical Romantics
Jan Mráček, concertmaster and violin soloist, performs alongside a string chamber orchestra formed by members of the Czech Philharmonic and the Karlovy Vary Symphony Orchestra. The program features Schubert’s Rondo in A major and Mendelssohn Bartholdy’s Concerto for Violin and String Orchestra in D minor.
Program:
Franz Schubert: Rondo in A Major for Violin and Strings, D 438
Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy: Concerto for Violin and String Orchestra in D Minor
Performed by:
A string chamber orchestra composed of members of the Czech Philharmonic and the Karlovy Vary Symphony Orchestra
Artistic director and solo violin: Jan Mráček
About program
Franz Schubert and Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy showed their exceptional talent at an early age. Both composers managed to combine youthful energy with a deep sensibility and melodic beauty. Their works for violin and orchestra most clearly display the lightness, spontaneity, and melodiousness typical of their musical world.
Schubert’s Rondo in A Major for Violin and Strings, D 438, was written early in the composer’s career, in the year 1816, when he was just nineteen years old. It is a composition full of charm, subtlety, and virtuoso lightness. The violin part, written for the composer’s friend Joseph Slawik, stands out for its melodious phrases and brilliant runs, seemingly inspired by Mozart’s concertante music. Nevertheless, in the Rondo we can also hear Schubert’s distinctive voice – lyrical, dreamlike, imbued with a sense of melancholy as well as a joie de vivre. In this piece, the string orchestra is no mere accompaniment; it is an equal partner, engaging the violins in a gentle, melodious dialogue.
Zcela jinou, ale neméně podmanivou energii přináší KFelix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy’s Concerto for Violin and String Orchestra in D Minor is characterized by an entirely different but no less captivating energy. Written when the composer was fourteen, it nevertheless displays an astonishing confidence of form and sense for dramatic contrast. The piece bears all the marks of Mendelssohn’s style – melodiousness, elegance, and technical brilliance, combined with youthful enthusiasm. The darker tonal range also possesses a touch of melancholy that presages the later peak of his career. This early concerto has often been called the “childhood of Romanticism” – it is a piece that has not yet lost its Classical purity but that already bears all the emotions of the 19th century. Felixe Mendelssohna-Bartholdyho. Skladatel jej napsal jako čtrnáctiletý, ovšem už s ohromující jistotou formy i smyslem pro dramatický kontrast. Dílo nese všechny znaky Mendelssohnova stylu – zpěvnost, eleganci a technickou brilanci spojenou s mladistvým zápalem. V temnějším tóninovém odstínu se objevuje i melancholie, která předznamenává pozdější vrchol jeho tvorby. Tento raný koncert bývá často označován za „dětství romantismu“ – hudbu, která ještě neztratila klasicistní čistotu, ale už nese všechny city devatenáctého století.
The general partner of the admission free public concerts in Karlovy Vary is the ČEZ GROUP.
Jan Mráček and a string chamber orchestra
Violinist Jan Mráček has been performing on leading concert stages since early childhood. He studied under Magdaléna Micková and Jiří Fišer, attended courses by Václav Hudeček, and soon attracted attention thanks to victories in a number of competitions, including Beethoven’s Hradec and the International Fritz Kreisler Competition in Vienna – where the jury was impressed not just by his technical maturity but also by his natural and charismatic style. In 2011, he became the youngest soloist of the Czech Radio Symphony Orchestra, and in 2016 he was invited by Jiří Bělohlávek to be concert master of the Czech Philharmonic. He has performed with a number of important orchestras and conductors around the world and is also involved in chamber music and recording. He plays a 1758 Carlo Fernando Landolfi violin on loan from Mr. Peter Biddulph.
For this concert, Mráček conducts a string chamber orchestra made up of players from the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra and the Karlovy Vary Symphony Orchestra. The musicians all share a similar musicality, attention to detail, and a joy from playing together that transcends the individual orchestras. The chamber formation brings out their precision and mutual inspiration and lends their performance a sense of freshness and natural momentum.
Violinist Jan Mráček has been performing on leading concert stages since early childhood. He studied under Magdaléna Micková and Jiří Fišer, attended courses by Václav Hudeček, and soon attracted attention thanks to victories in a number of competitions, including Beethoven’s Hradec and the International Fritz Kreisler Competition in Vienna – where the jury was impressed not just by his technical maturity but also by his natural and charismatic style. In 2011, he became the youngest soloist of the Czech Radio Symphony Orchestra, and in 2016 he was invited by Jiří Bělohlávek to be concert master of the Czech Philharmonic. He has performed with a number of important orchestras and conductors around the world and is also involved in chamber music and recording. He plays a 1758 Carlo Fernando Landolfi violin on loan from Mr. Peter Biddulph.
For this concert, Mráček conducts a string chamber orchestra made up of players from the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra and the Karlovy Vary Symphony Orchestra. The musicians all share a similar musicality, attention to detail, and a joy from playing together that transcends the individual orchestras. The chamber formation brings out their precision and mutual inspiration and lends their performance a sense of freshness and natural momentum.
Violinist Jan Mráček has been performing on leading concert stages since early childhood. He studied under Magdaléna Micková and Jiří Fišer, attended courses by Václav Hudeček, and soon attracted attention thanks to victories in a number of competitions, including Beethoven’s Hradec and the International Fritz Kreisler Competition in Vienna – where the jury was impressed not just by his technical maturity but also by his natural and charismatic style. In 2011, he became the youngest soloist of the Czech Radio Symphony Orchestra, and in 2016 he was invited by Jiří Bělohlávek to be concert master of the Czech Philharmonic. He has performed with a number of important orchestras and conductors around the world and is also involved in chamber music and recording. He plays a 1758 Carlo Fernando Landolfi violin on loan from Mr. Peter Biddulph.
For this concert, Mráček conducts a string chamber orchestra made up of players from the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra and the Karlovy Vary Symphony Orchestra. The musicians all share a similar musicality, attention to detail, and a joy from playing together that transcends the individual orchestras. The chamber formation brings out their precision and mutual inspiration and lends their performance a sense of freshness and natural momentum.