La Folle Journée de Varsovie: CLASH OF EMPIRES (13)

Tickets go on sale on 1 September 2021, 11 a.m.

PROGRAMME:

Wellington’s Victory, Op. 91, arrangement for wind instruments by Marcin Masecki
I. Schlacht (Battle)

II. Sieges Symphonie (Victory Symphony)

Piano Concerto No. 5 in E-Flat Major, Op. 73 Emperor, arrangement for wind instruments  and piano by Marcin Masecki
I. Allegro
II. Adagio un poco mosso
III. Rondo: Allegro

PERFORMERS:

Sinfonia Varsovia Panharmonicon Orchestra

Marcin Masecki – piano, music director 

The Panharmonicon is a mechanical device that could imitate the sounds of a military band. This instrument and other technological innovations by the inventor of the metronome, Johann Nepomuk Mälzel, fascinated Beethoven. Mälzel also helped the composer with his deafness by designing ear trumpets for him. Moreover, the inventor was a talented showman – with the use of his automata he staged the defeats of the hated Napoleon in Vienna. After Wellington’s Spanish victory in 1813, he persuaded the composer to compose a battle piece for his Panharmonicon. Riding on the wave of patriotism, the orchestral version of Wellington’s Victory was met with enthusiasm in Vienna and contributed to the success of the Symphony No. 7. Conducted by Marcin Masecki, the Panharmonicon Orchestra will recreate the atmosphere of the battle and perform a special version of the Emperor Concerto. Beethoven wrote this concerto during 1809, as Vienna was under siege by Napoleon’s armies.