Bella / Hummel / MoyzesBella / Hummel / Moyzes

The Advent Season will be enhanced by a concert composed exclusively of works by authors whose lives are connected to Slovakia. A native of Bratislava, Johann Nepomuk Hummel, a contemporary of Mozart and Haydn, composed a trumpet concerto before Christmas in 1803. The New Year’s premiere, which underlined Hummel’s entry into Esterházy’s court band, was played by the composer’s friend, prominent trumpeter and inventor of the keyed trumpet, Anton Weidinger. “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace“, these are the verses from the book of the prophet Isaiah. In the Christmas cantata, Ján Levoslav Bella relies on the biblical text, a composer whose works are ground-breaking and often innovative for our domestic music production. His compositional colleague Mikuláš Moyzes, who is thirty years younger, also follows the musical language of late romanticism, also uses elements of Slovak folklore in the mass.

A young native of Slovakia, Stanislav Masaryk, has been holding the prestigious post of first trumpet player in the Czech Philharmonic since 2020. The concert will also feature a quartet of vocal soloists, whom you may recognize from their roles in the SND Opera and other domestic stages.