GRAND VIENNA GALA
33rd Mozart Festival in Warsaw
Wiener Musikverein
Concert Hall of the Society of Friends of Music in Vienna
Jessica Pratt – soprano
Petr Nekoranec – tenor
Period Instrument Orchestra of the Warszawska Opera Kameralna
Musicae Antiquae Collegium Varsoviense
Conductor
Michał Maciaszczyk
Following the successes of previous editions of the Mozart Festival, we are expanding the festival’s reach to a city particularly associated with Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart – Vienna. The presentation of our art in one of the capitals of the musical world is a bold, ambitious, and yet natural further path of development for the Warszawska Opera Kameralna. It has become a tradition that we inaugurate the Warsaw Mozart Festival with a Grand Opening Gala. This is a genuine celebration of the art of the Salzburg Master, a concert during which the walls of the Warsaw Philharmonic resound with masterpieces, phrases that are part of the canon of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s art. It is this annual celebration that we want to take further, to a city particularly associated with the creativity of W.A. Mozart, to one of the capitals of the musical world – Vienna. On 19 May, we will perform at the Golden Hall of the Vienna Music Association, the renowned and prestigious Musikverein – a venue where not only the annual New Year’s concerts take place but is also a centre of musical excellence. Performing in this hall is an honour and an extraordinary experience for every artist and ensemble.
This time, the star will be Jessica Pratt – the incomparable Donna Anna from “Don Giovanni” and the Queen of the Night from “The Magic Flute”. She is one of the most sought-after sopranos, an artist who delights music lovers from the USA through leading European stages to the Far East and the Antipodes. Wherever she appears, critics and music enthusiasts unanimously state that she is gifted with a truly angelic voice. The New York Times hailed Jessica Pratt as an unmatched interpreter of the most challenging opera arias, a master of bel canto, and a singer who freely reaches the highest notes in the scale of the human voice, all in ethereal coloraturas full of lyrical grace. Jessica Pratt is the winner of the International Opera Award “Oscar Della Lirica”, recognizing her as the best soprano in the world for 2016. Alongside her, we will listen to Petr Nekoranec, considered one of the greatest talents of the opera stage. This Czech tenor, who delights both critics and music lovers, has had thrilling performances on German stages (with Munich Bayerische Staatsoper and Stuttgart Opera at the forefront) as well as at Theater an der Wien and Paris Théâtre des Champs-Élysées. He perfected his skills as part of the prestigious Lindemann Young Artist Development Programme at the Metropolitan Opera in New York. The influential Opera Wire, characterizing his voice, noted: “/…/ a charming innocence allowing Nekoranec to caress every note in long drawn-out, melodic arches free of pretence or indeed the semblance of vocal artifice; they build what is essentially an introspective reading of the arias reluctant to push the voice beyond its natural limits”.
Concert programme :
A. Mozart
Overture to the opera Don Giovanni KV 527
Konstanze’s aria Ach ich liebte from the opera Die Entführung aus dem Serail KV 384
Idamantes’ aria Non ho colpa from the opera Idomeneo, Re di Creta KV 367
Donna Anna’s aria Crudele…Non mi dir…forse un giorno from the opera Don Giovanni KV 527
Overture to the opera Così fan tutte KV 588
Aria Tito Se All impero amici dei from the opera La clemenza di Tito KV 621
Aria Zaide Ruhe Sanft, mein holdes leben from the opera Zaide KV 344
Overture to the opera La clemenza di Tito KV 621
Aspasia’s aria Al destin che la minaccia from the opera Mitridate, re di Ponto KV 87
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6 German Dances KV 509
Donna Anna and Don Ottavio duet Fuggi crudele fuggi from the opera Don Giovanni KV 527
Overture to the opera Idomeneo, Re di Creta KV 366
Konstanze and Belmonte duet Welch ein Geschick! O Qual der Seele! – Meinetwegen sollst du sterben! from the opera Die Entführung aus dem Serail KV 384
3 German Dances KV 605
Don Ottavio’s aria Dalla sua pace from the opera Don Giovanni KV 527
Konstanze’s aria Martern aller Arten! from the opera Die Entführung aus dem Serail KV 384