Bernstein’s Symphony No.2 and Wayne Marshall
Municipal House, Monday 15 March 2027 at 7.30 p.m., public dress rehearsal at 10 a.m.
Wayne Marshall – conductor
Karel Košárek – piano
Paul Merkelo – trumpet
Wynton Marsalis: Concerto for Trumpet and Orchestra (35′)
Leonard Bernstein: Leonard Bernstein: Symphony No. 2 “The Age of Anxiety” (35′)
Music can name the unnameable and communicate the unknowable.
Leonard Bernstein
This evening’s programme brings together two distinctive voices of American music, both linking the classical tradition with the energy of jazz.
Wynton Marsalis composed his Concerto for Trumpet and Orchestra in 1996 for the New York Philharmonic and dedicated it to his friend, the trumpeter Raymond Mase. The work is among the most striking contemporary concertos for the instrument, alternating virtuoso fanfare-like passages with blues-inflected lyricism and rhythmically driven episodes that evoke the atmosphere of a jazz club. The soloist will be the Canadian trumpeter Paul Merkelo.
Leonard Bernstein’s Symphony No. 2 “The Age of Anxiety” was inspired by the poem of the same name by Wystan Hugh Auden, for which the poet received the Pulitzer Prize.
Bernstein created an unusual symphony with a prominent piano part that is not a traditional concertante solo, but rather a guide through the musical narrative – a parallel to the conversations of the four characters in Auden’s poem, which unfold over the course of a single night in a New York bar. The piano part will be performed by Karel Košárek.
Conductor Wayne Marshall
is a major figure on the international music scene, renowned for his extraordinary versatility. In addition to conducting, he performs as both an organist and pianist and is a highly sought-after interpreter of the music of Gershwin, Bernstein, and other composers who bridge the worlds of symphonic music and jazz.
Pianist Karel Košárek
is among the leading Czech interpreters of his generation. He studied at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia and performs with major orchestras both at home and abroad; his repertoire ranges from classical concertos to music of the 20th and 21st centuries.
Trumpeter Paul Merkelo,
long-time principal trumpet of the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, is admired for his brilliant technique and stylistic versatility.
Two works, two perspectives on the American musical imagination: Wynton Marsalis’s virtuoso, rhythmically charged concerto and Bernstein’s symphony inspired by modern poetry. Join us for an evening of distinctive musical atmosphere.
The concert will be broadcast live on Czech Radio Vltava:
Ticket prices range from 180 to 1,100 CZK
Come early!
A meeting with the artists before the concert
Municipal House | Confectionery | 1st floor | 6.30 p.m. - 7.15 p.m.
