Magdalena Kožená has included songs by Bohuslav Martinů on the programme of her special concert to draw attention to the beauty of this seldom heard music. Simon Rattle has a similar motivation with Robert Schumann, whose music is not often heard at the Rudolfinum.
Robert Schumann
Genoveva, Op. 81, overture to the opera (10')
Bohuslav Martinů / arranged for orchestra by Jiří Teml
Songs on One Page, H 294 (8')
Bohuslav Martinů
Nipponari. Seven songs to Japanese lyric poetry for female voice and small orchestra, H 68 (21')
— Intermission —
Robert Schumann
Symphony No. 2 in C major, Op. 61 (38')
Magdalena Kožená mezzo-soprano
Simon Rattle conductor
Czech Philharmonic
“To me, Schumann is the perfect essence of everything one understands by the word Romanticism. His music is deeply passionate and communicative, but it never descends into self pity. I don’t think there are many more moving compositions than the Adagio of Schumann’s Second Symphony. Unlike Mahler, he never gets caught up with himself emotionally, but the music he produces is like a crystal-pure extract. It is one of the loveliest symphonies I know, and one of the most difficult to perform”, says Sir Simon Rattle.
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