Carl Maria von Weber – on the 200th anniversary of the composer’s death

The event is part of the 23rd Carla Maria von Weber International Music Festival of Historic Parks and Gardens in Pokój.

Carl Maria von Weber (1786–1826) combined a versatile musical talent with literary and artistic abilities, which made him particularly predisposed to creating and producing operas. However, his extraordinary dramatic imagination and special sensitivity to nuances of sound were likewise beautifully manifested in his vocal lyric works. Not wishing to interpret poems that had already been set to music by other composers, he avoided works by popular German poets. Instead, he often turned to pieces written by his acquaintances, both close and distant, that resonated with his own emotions, making this area of his musical activity seem especially personal. At times, he performed his songs himself. In fact, in 1806, as a court musician at the residence of Duke Eugen Friedrich Heinrich von Württemberg in Carlsruhe (today Pokój near Opole), his duties included active participation in musical evenings. We can therefore imagine a slender young man who, accompanying himself on the guitar or engaging in musical dialogue with Duchess Luise at the piano, would sing verses about love, art, the fate of the artist, and the human condition, moving the audience to joy and thoughtful reflection.

The audience at the concert commemorating the 200th anniversary of the composer’s death will also have the opportunity to experience this diversity of forms and expression in Weber’s lyric works. In the Baroque-Rococo interior of the Evangelical Church of Princess Sophia in Pokój, solo songs captivating in their direct expression will be performed alongside duets that reveal the composer’s dramatic inclinations. We will also hear excerpts from his famous operas – Der Freischütz and Oberon, his only English opera and, at the same time, the final work of the prematurely deceased composer. The program will be complemented by works written for the clarinet. The sound of this instrument – likely thanks to the outstanding clarinetist H. J. Barmann – gave rise to a number of works composed in 1811, including the Variations on a theme from the opera Silvana, Op. 33, which will open the concert. The program will also include Hommage à C. M. von Weber for solo clarinet, a concert étude by the Hungarian clarinetist and composer Béla Kovács, dedicated to Weber’s memory and composed in the style of the creator of German Romantic opera.

Marta Dziewanowska-Pachowska

PROGRAM

Carl Maria von Weber (1786-1826)

Variations on a theme from the opera Silvana for clarinet and piano, Op. 33
Deutsche Lieder, Op. 25 (selection)

Liebe-Glühen
Über die Berge mit Ungestüm
Lass mich schlummern, Herzlein, schweige Betterlied

Minnelied Op. 30 No. 4
Wiegenlied Op. 13 No. 2
Das Veilchen im Thale Op. 66 No. 1
Meine Farben Op. 23 No. 1
Einsam bin ich, nicht alleine – song from the music for the play by P. A. Wolff Preciosa, Op. 78
Duet Mille volte mio tesoro Op. 31 No. 1
Duet Se il mio ben Op. 31 No. 3

— INTERMISSION —

Carl Maria von Weber

6 Lieder, Op. 15

1. Meine Lieder, meine Sänge
2. Klage
3. Der kleine Fritz an seine jungen Freude
4. Was zieht zu deinem Zauberkreise
5. Ich sah ein Röschen am Wege stehn
6. Er an Sie

Béla Kovács (1937–2021)

Hommage à C.M. von Weber for clarinet solo

Carl Maria von Weber

Wie nahte mir der Schlummer – scene and aria (Agathe) from Act II of the opera Der Freischütz
An dem Strande der Garonne – duet (Sherasmin and Fatima) from Act III of the opera Oberon

PERFORMERS

GABRIELA KAMIŃSKA SOPRANO

ANETA ŁUKASZEWICZ MEZZOSOPRANO

WITOLD ŻOŁĄDKIEWICZ BARITONE

JULIAN PAPROCKI CLARINET

DAGMARA DUDZIŃSKA GRAND PIANO

Duration: 1h 40 mins (with an intermission)

Patron of OPERA ON TOUR