New Year’s Concert 2023

The concert will last until 9 p.m. The cloakroom will be available from 5.30 p.m. Admission is free. There are up to 200 available seats.

Programme:

1. J.Strauss – Overture A Night in Venice
2. J.Strauss – Polka Bahn frei
3. E.Kalman – Sylvia’s Csárdás Heia Heia from the operetta The Csárdás Princess (Die Csárdásfürstin), sung in soprano
4. J.Strauss – Barinkaya’s couplets, Great fame is a joke, sung in tenor
5. J.Strauss – Rosalinda’s Csárdás, Klange der Heima, sung in soprano
6. J.Strauss – Polka Lejchtes Blut
7. F.Kreisler – Love’s Sorrow, violin performance
8. F.Lehar – Vilja Song from the operetta The Merry Widow, sung in soprano
9. J.Strauss – Keiserwalzer

BREAK

1. E.Kalman – Tassilo’s Aria Come, gypsies, sung in tenor
2. V.Monti – Csárdás, violin performance
3. F.Lehar – Aria Lied und Csárdás,  the operetta Gipsy Love, sung in soprano
4. J.Strauss – Polka Ohne Sorgen
5. R.Stolz – Ob blond ob braun
6. E.Kalman – Tanzwalzer from the operetta The Csárdás Princess (Die Csárdásfürstin), duet
7. J. Strauss – Waltz The Blue Danube
Encore: F.Lehar – Lips are silent, duet

The J. Strauss Symphonic Orchestra of the University Philharmonic was established in 2019 as a larger formation of the Wrocław Soloist Ensemble “Ricordanza”, active since the year 2000 and J. Strauss Festival Orchestra, founded and led by maestro Jan Ślęk.

The artistic director of the orchestra is the excellent violinist and pedagogue Viktor Kuznetsov (inner of two international violin competitions – the Henryk Wieniawski Competition in Poznań and the Nicolo Paganini Competition in Genoa). Young and talented artists led by him were the basis of this ensemble.

The University Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra continues and develops the musical tradition of the Soloist Ensemble. In its style of music-making, it reconciles two styles of playing: solo and ensemble playing. On the one hand, every musician in this orchestra has soloist competence and stage experience, gathered during an extensive education. On the other, the musicians – without renouncing their individuality and their own unique playstyles – together form a monolith that translates into the quality of the group’s sound and performance culture.

The shape and size of the “Ricordanza” Soloist Ensemble varies – depending on the works performed and the spatial conditions of the concert hall – from a few to several dozen people. Every year the J. Strauss Festival Orchestra of Wrocław conducted by professor Jan Ślęk was assembled for the purposes of the Viennese Music Festival. The development of this idea and the expansion of performances of the University Philharmonic resulted in the sanctioning of a permanently operating Symphony Orchestra.

Performers collaborating with the ensemble include musicians of such calibre as Ida Haendel, Caroline-Haffner-Murat, Natalia-Gutman, Grigori Żyslin, Josef Lendvay, Janusz Olejniczak, Ilia Gringolz, Wiesław Ochman, Leszek Możdżer, Lars Danielsson, Ilia Grubert, Valentyna Lisitza.

The ensemble has performed in a number of European countries (such as Norway, France, Spain, Switzerland and Germany), participated in numerous festivals and appeared in prestigious concert halls. Of the recordings made by “Ricordanza”, the most noteworthy are: an album with works by Albinoni and Vivaldi published on the occasion of the 300th anniversary of the University of Wrocław (2002), a reconstruction of a concert given by Niccolò Paganini in 1829 at the University of Wrocław (2003, conducted by Stefan Bevier), an album with the music of Józef Zeidler (2007, awarded the “Fryderyk” prize) and a selection of famous overtures from Viennese operetta (2007, conducted by Jan Ślęk).

Translated by Adrian Błoniewski (student of English Studies at the University of Wrocław) as part of the translation practice.