Concert: Croatian chamber orchestra Conductor: Tomislav Uhlik
Concert:
Croatian chamber orchestra
Conductor: Tomislav Uhlik
(J. Haydn, F. B. Mendelssohn)
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After the introductory welcome address by Davorin Flego – President of the Rovinj Town Government at the opening of the seventh Rovinj Festival of Classical Music, who has expressed his satisfaction with the continuity and the level
Concert:
Croatian chamber orchestra
Conductor: Tomislav Uhlik
(J. Haydn, F. B. Mendelssohn)
###
After the introductory welcome address by Davorin Flego – President of the Rovinj Town Government at the opening of the seventh Rovinj Festival of Classical Music, who has expressed his satisfaction with the continuity and the level of this festival under Katija Markotić’s management, the Croatian Chamber Orchestra presented itself to the public, guided by maestro Tomislav Uhlik this time.
In the first part of the program, we had the opportunity to hear the G-major Symphony no. 92, Hob 1, the so-called Oxford Symphony. Symphonies and string quartets are exactly the pieces by which Haydn left a living contribution to European music. He is a composer known for sophisticated exploitation, for his era, of thematic material and instrumentalization. His pieces are characterized by the classic balance reflected in no other than the inner structure of the movements of his symphonies of late and middle periods, which is noticable in this symphony as well.
After a short Adagio, typical of Haydn, other movements followed one another: Allegro spirito, Andante, Menuet, and the grand finale – the presto. The interesting instrumentation by which the author focused his attention on various sections of the orchestra was tastefully used and it was clearly expressed in a very delicate andante in terms of interpretation, after which the Menuet sounded very fresh, and the orchestra very tastefully emphasized the presence of elements of folk music and burlesque moments reflected in the rhythmic invention.
This symphony, performed by the Croatian Chamber Orchestra guided by Tomislav Uhlik, sounded very even and stylistically correct.
After a short break, in the second part of the program, the Symphony no. 3 in A-minor was presented, the so-called Scottish. This symphony, along with the so-called Italian, is the most frequently performed one today, being the product of a period of the composer’s full maturity and creative force. It owes its creation to an author’s trip to Scotland. For every listener, the interesting part of this symphony lies in the fact that it is one of the first related pieces in which the thematic material is in various movements and it has its culmination in a magnificent major-key closing of the symphony.
The selection of Mendelssohn after Haydn – who is the establisher of classical micro and macro forms of his period, is certainly very interesting. As it happens, he is a composer of a typically romantic touch characterized by a particular relation toward form, so he is often called a classicist among romantics.
In movements of Mendelssohn’s symphony - Andante con moto,Allegro poco agitato,Vivace non troppo,Adagio,Allegro guerriero vivacissimo,Allegro maestoso assai, the conductor emphasized the composer’s sense of symmetry, clearness and elegance. The particular northern touch of this symphony came to life, thick with an undertone of wisfulness, dejection and melancholy. We can say that this time, the Croatian Chamber Orchestra, guided by a very sensitive maestro Uhlik, once again confirmed its status of one of the most renowned local orchestras.
The numerous audience, very happy with the performance, called the musicians for an encore, and Mendelssohn’s Fruhlingfslied op. 62, no. 6 arranged by Tomislav Uhlik was performed again. The concert was held under the patronage of the Town Government of the Town of Rovinj and the Tourist Association, and it has been organized by the Rovinj Summer Festival, in association with Pučko Otvoreno Učilište (public teaching establishment) of the Town of Rovinj.
