RTV Slovenia Symphony Orchestra - Kromatika 5

Solist: Barbara Jernejčič Fürst, mezzo-soprano

Program:
Franz Schubert, Rosamunde, Princess of Cyprus
Overture
Interlude No. 3
Interlude No. 1
Alban Berg, Seven Early Songs
*
Hans Rott, Symphony No. 1 in E major



One of the most influential composers of early Romanticism, Franz Schubert (1797-1828) perfected many genres, from solo songs and piano miniatures to symphonies. Schubert’s contribution to musical theatre should not be overlooked, either. His music for the play Rosamunde, Princess of Cyprus, by German poet and playwright Helmina von Chézy, was performed for the first time in 1823. Today, it is Schubert’s music that has survived on stage rather than the play itself. At the present concert, we present a selection of three excerpts from the music.

Slovenian mezzo-soprano Barbara Jernejčič Fürst (1972) is a distinguished concert soloist and singing teacher. As well as teaching solo singing at the Ljubljana Academy of Music, she collaborates with the Ljubljana Music Society and performs on the stages of the Flemish Opera in Ghent, the Slovene National Theatre Opera and Ballet in Ljubljana and Maribor, the Vienna Chamber Opera, Theater an der Wien, and so on. As a soloist, she will present the Seven Early Songs, a collection of solo songs with orchestral accompaniment by Alban Berg (1885-1935). The songs were written during Berg’s studies with Arnold Schoenberg, the great music innovator and leading representative of the Second Viennese School, to which Berg also belongs.

The Symphony in E major is a youthful work and the only completed symphony by Austrian composer Hans Rott (1858-1884), who made a strong impression on his famous contemporary Gustav Mahler. The latter once commented that Rott was “a musical genius who died unrecognised on the verge of his career”. It will be performed by Mihhail Gerts (1984), an Estonian conductor who has achieved international acclaim with performances with the Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, the BBC Symphony Orchestra and the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France. Since 2015, he has served as the permanent conductor of the Hagen Theatre.