Dubravka Tomšič & MÁV Symphony Orchestra

“The great movement of deliverance: from darkness to light, from the depths to the heights – a true Beethoven line, in melody, form and drama alike.” This is how Bence Szabolcsi characterizes Beethoven’s Leonore overtures. Beethoven composed four overtures for his opera Fidelio, the three Leonore overtures cover the plot of the opera in a symphonic way, but he was not satisfied with the first two, which is why he constantly rearranged them. ▪ Beethoven’s final piano concerto is similarly liberating music; he presented it in 1810, a year after Symphony No. 5. The English called it ʻThe Emperor’ symbolizing the dignity and power inherent in it. ▪ Symphony No. 8 stands out among the nine giants not for its drama but for its joie de vivre, its good humour, and in this respect it is a kindred spirit with the other two pieces of our concert, concluding in triumphant joy. ▪ The soloist for this recital was born in Dubrovnik and continued her piano studies from the age of 12 at the Juilliard School in America. On hearing her play, Arthur Rubinstein, one of the greatest pianists of the age, invited her to study with him privately.