Chopin | Mozart | Brahms - Polska Orkiestra Sinfonia Iuventus

Like most of his piano concertos, Mozart wrote the Concerto in C minor, K. 491, with himself as the soloist in mind; he completed it on 24 March 1786, as part of a series of works that also included the concertos in E-flat major, K. 482 (December 1785) and A major, K. 488. Set against this backdrop, it stands out for its sombre, dramatic expression and forms a counterpart to the equally turbulent Concerto in D minor, K. 466. It must have made a huge impression on audiences at the time: back then, one did not expect a piano concerto to possess such expressive power, nor for the orchestra to play such a prominent role. Here, Mozart brought together the largest ensemble of wind instruments in his concerto repertoire – for the first time, he combined oboes with clarinets, which were only just beginning to find their place in the classical orchestra at that time.

Following the failure of the premiere of his Piano Concerto No. 1 in 1859, Brahms did not dare to tackle the symphonic genre for nearly two decades. The first ideas began to take shape in the mid-1950s, but the premiere of the First Symphony did not take place until November 1876 in Karlsruhe. Its success paved the way for the Symphony No. 2 in D major, Op. 73, composed in the summer of 1877 in Pörtschach on Lake Wörthersee in Carinthia, where the composer was resting away from the hustle and bustle of the city. The cheerful, bucolic atmosphere led critics to draw comparisons with Beethoven’s Pastoral Symphony; Brahms himself treated such comparisons with some reserve, although he did indeed see himself as the heir to the classical masters. The first movement opens with a brief motif played by the cellos and double basses, followed immediately by a gentle melody on the French horns; the second theme is reminiscent of the Lullaby, Op. 49 No. 4. The ‘Adagio non troppo’ combines solemnity with drama and demonstrates Brahms’s mastery in the development of themes. The third movement begins like a landler, before evolving into a boisterous, quasi-folk dance in the faster sections. The finale is lively, full of contrasts in mood, tempo and dynamism. The premiere (Vienna, 30 December 1877, the Vienna Philharmonic conducted by Hans Richter) was received with such enthusiasm that the third movement had to be repeated.

Mazurkas are the largest group of works in Chopin’s output, comprising nearly sixty miniatures in which Polish dances such as mazur, kujawiak and oberek become the basis for deeply personal and poetic music. They were composed over almost the entirety of the composer’s life, combining folk influences with sophisticated harmony, rhythm and expression. The three pieces selected for this evening will showcase three completely different facets of this stylised dance.

It was for his performance of the Mazurkas that Yehuda Prokopowicz received the Polish Radio Prize at the 19th Chopin Competition – the oldest of the competition’s special awards, presented since 1927, with past winners including Martha Argerich, Krystian Zimerman and Rafał Blechacz. He was also awarded the Zbigniew Drzewiecki Prize for the highest-ranked Polish participant outside the final eleven. Critics wrote about his sensitivity, maturity and distinctive individuality. The young virtuoso is studying at the Krzysztof Penderecki Academy of Music in Kraków. He has won over thirty national and international competitions, including the Grand Prix at the I.J. Paderewski National Piano Competition in Piotrków Trybunalski and first prizes at the EPTA and Adam Harasiewicz competitions.