Chačaturian / JanáčekKhachaturian / Janáček

Aram Khachaturian is one of the most outstanding figures on the symphonic and ballet music scene of the 20th century. He activated ethnic idioms in an academic symphonic context in a significant manner. His main compositional principle is strong impulses from the field of Georgian and Armenian folk music. He is the author of two large concert projects. Due to the extraordinary difficulty in terms of technique, condition and concentration, they appear on stages infrequently. Leoš Janáček’s works are original and at the same time very human; this statement underlines the special expression of faith through the Old Slavonic text in the Glagolitic Mass. The text almost coincides with the Latin text of the Mass, but the work is not a liturgical work. “I wanted to capture here faith in the security of the nation not on a religious basis, but on a moral, strong one, which takes God as a witness,“ wrote the composer. The mass consists of three instrumental and five vocal-instrumental parts. It begins and ends with festive fanfares accompanied by timpani, while before the final Intrada there is a separate organ Postlude performed by Marek Štrbák. You can recognize the quartet of Slovak singing soloists from their rich concert and opera activity.