Petr Popelka leads the Luxembourg Philharmonic

On 17 May Petr Popelka heads to Luxembourg for a concert with the Luxembourg Philharmonic and soloist Leonidas Kavakos. They will perform two 20^th-century works: Bartók’s Violin Concerto No. 2, and Richard Strauss’ Alpine Symphony.

Often heard as a musical ‘farewell’ to a Hungary rapidly aligning itself to Nazi Germany, Bartók wrote his Second Violin Concerto shortly before emigrating to the USA in 1940. The piece takes inspiration both from Hungarian folk music, as well as the cerebral world of twelve-tone technique, and encompasses a huge emotional range. Meanwhile, Strauss’ Alpine Symphony continues the Central European flavour, depicting a single day climbing in the Alps, from sunrise to sunset.

Popelka said of the programme: ” When I open a Bartók score, it’s always a source of inspiration for me.”

[Original: „Wenn ich eine Partitur von Bartók aufschlage, ist das für mich immer Quell der Inspiration.“]