DOBRZYŃSKI – BERLIOZ

Ignacy Feliks Dobrzyński worked on his only opera, Monbar, or The Filibusters, during the 1830s. Despite earlier efforts to bring it to the stage, the work finally premiered a quarter of a century later, in 1863, at the Warsaw Opera. Unfortunately, the outbreak of the January Uprising soon caused the title to disappear from the repertoire. The overture to this remarkable opera reflects the composer’s exceptional inventiveness in color and melody, as well as his outstanding command of the orchestral sound palette.

The dramatic power of expression of Dobrzyński’s work corresponds with the artistic stance of Hector Berlioz. A leading figure of French Romantic music, Berlioz was renowned not only as a composer and conductor but also as a man of letters. The written word served as a fundamental source of inspiration for his musical creations. In his lyric scene Herminie (1828) for soprano and orchestra, he uses a poem by Pierre-Ange Vieillard based on an episode from Torquato Tasso’s Jerusalem Delivered. The story of a pagan princess hopelessly in love with the Christian knight Tancred served as a point of departure for Berlioz to craft a score of remarkable emotional intensity. The second half of the concert will feature the symphony Harold in Italy (1834), whose literary program is based on a poem by Lord Byron. It was Niccolò Paganini himself who initially inspired Berlioz to compose this work featuring a solo viola, as the virtuoso was seeking new repertoire. However, Paganini ultimately declined to premiere the composition, famously exclaiming: “That’s not it at all! I am silent for too long; I must be playing the whole time.” How mistaken he was! The recurring viola theme that unifies the symphony’s movements, the flowing solo passages interwoven with the brilliant orchestral writing, the inventive harmonies, and the superb structure left Paganini deeply impressed. After the Paris concert on the 16th of December 1838, he reportedly knelt before Berlioz in front of witnesses and kissed his hands.

Marta Dziewanowska-Pachowska

PROGRAM

Ignacy Feliks Dobrzyński (1807-1867) – Overture to the Opera Monbar, or The Filibusters, Op. 30

Hector Berlioz (1803-1869) – Herminie H 29

1. Recitative: Quel trouble te poursuit, malheureuse
2. Aria: Ah! Si de la tendresse où mon cœur
3. Recitative: Que dis-je? òu s’égarent mes vœux?
4. Aria: Arrête! Cher Tancrède
5. Recitative: Que Clorinde est heureuse
6. Aria: Venez, venez, terribles armes!
7. Prière. Dieu des chrétiens, toi que j’ignore

— intermission —

Hector Berlioz (1803-1869) – Symphony Harold en Italie (Harold in Italy) for viola and orchestra, H 69

1. Harold aux montagnes. Scènes de mélancolie, de bonheur, et de joie
2. Marche de pélerins chantant la prière du soir
3. Sérénade d’un montagnard des Abruzzes à sa maîtresse
4. Orgie de brigands. Souvenirs des scènes précédentes

PERFORMERS

MONIKA LEDZION MEZZOSOPRANO

KATARZYNA BUDNIK VIOLA

THE ORCHESTRA OF THE POLISH ROYAL OPERA

ŁUKASZ BOROWICZ CONDUCTOR

Duration: approx. 1 h 40 mins (with an intermission)

PATRON OF THE POLISH ROYAL OPERA