Janáček Philharmonic Ostrava / Vassily Sinaisky - NOSPR

‘This is music straight from heaven!’ – that was Antonín Dvořák’s opinion of the ballet suite Fairy Tale, Op. 16 by Josef Suk. The Czech composer’s work comprises a selection of pieces from his music to Julius Zeyer’s play Radúz and Mahulena – a romantic story set in a world of fairies, sorcerers and mythological creatures. Love prevails, of course, and its triumph is depicted by the last of the four movements.
A decade before Fairy Tale, Gustav Mahler entered the world of the symphony. His First Symphony in D major is marked by the influence of song, particularly the works from his cycle Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen; their motifs form the basis for the themes here, and the original title, ‘Titan’, referred to a novel by Jean Paul. Also striking is the minor-mode version of the song ‘Frère Jacques’ in the third movement, juxtaposed with grotesque bugle calls. Well, such was the world at the end of the nineteenth century – bittersweet, where fairy tales mingled with the brutality of life.

[Bartosz Witkowski, translated by John Comber]

Duration of the concert (including break): approx. 110 minutes