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© Theresa Pewal

Philzuid

Spring concert
Sun 17 Mar ’24 14:15 uur


Samy Rachid, conductor
Liya Petrova, violin

Programme:
Mendelssohn - Overture from A Midsummer Night's Dream
Bartók - Violin Concerto No. 2
Schumann - Symphony No. 1 'Spring'

Sun 17 Mar ’24
14:15 uur

'Oh, set your steps again, in the valley spring has arrived...' ring the lines of poetry that inspired Schumann. In just four days in January 1841, he outlined the contours of his Spring Symphony. "As if I was seized by a sudden urge of spring," Schumann later explained. That urge of spring could easily be the motto of this concert. Cupid's arrows in Rameau's magical eighteenth-century melodies thaw everyone's hearts.

In his poignant First Violin Concerto, Béla Bartók paints a portrait of his childhood love Steffi, while his Second Violin Concerto is dedicated to the violinist Zotán Székely. Under the baton of conductor Willem Mengelberg, Bartók's Second Violin Concerto premiered in 1939 at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. It is a delight to play, according to soloist Liya Petrova, about whom the Sunday Times wrote: "Beautiful sound, mature and silvery with a majestic grandeur."


Samy Rachid replaces Duncan Ward

The concert was originally supposed to be conducted by chief conductor Duncan Ward. Unfortunately, due to illness, he must regretfully step back. In the person of Samy Rachid, Philzuid has found a rising star conductor who is currently serving as the Assistant Conductor of the Boston Symphony Orchestra under none other than Andris Nelsons this season. As a result, one change is made to the program: instead of the Suite from Les Boréades by Rameau, Mendelssohn's Overture from A Midsummer Night’s Dream will now be performed.