Carl Maria von Weber: Overture to Oberon
Robert Schumann: Concert Piece for four Horns and Orchestra in F major, Op. 86
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Carl Heinrich Hübler: Concert Piece for four Horns and Orchestra
Richard Wagner: Lohengrin, Prelude to Act 3
That music has an extraordinary power to influence human emotions and that it can, like being in love, bring the mind to a halt, was probably known already to the cavemen. Even today, thanks to their beauty and irrational power, organized sounds enrich rituals, the most sacred events and ceremonies. Old Greek philosophers attempted to define the power of music scientifically and philosophically: Pythagoras explored its mathematical characteristics and compared them with the operation of the universe and Plato then proved with scientific certainty that music influences human behaviour and that it is therefore necessary to handle it wisely and carefully.
And indeed, we can with a selfless devotion enjoy the reflection of the perfect, the beautiful and the all-encompassing reality either when listening to the sounds of nature or music. Such is also the nature of the exquisitely ordered European classical music, whose sounds are subjected to detailed systemic laws and form some of the most complex and touching achievements of human imagination. In this "urbanized" musical landscape and as a direct representative of nature survived a rather simple and at the same time intricate instrument - the horn. The mystery of the horn may partially lie in its whimsicality, which lays before the horn-player special musical and technical challenges. Thus, when a true master plays the horn, almost no other instrument in the orchestra can compete with its brilliancy and magnificence. It is therefore not surprising that the instrument of the fearless hero Siegfried was the horn and that Wagner chose horns whenever he wanted to achieve a most spectacular effect.
Thus, when the stage is occupied by four outstanding horn players, there is no doubt that a special celebration is at hand.
Dávid Kutas, László Seeman, Mahir Kalmik and
Boštjan Lipovšek, who at the threshold of successful international careers twenty years ago performed together for the first time with the Maribor Opera Orchestra, will now be returning at the end of the 2018 Maribor Festival, richer for experience, renown and excellency. On this occasion, the
SNG Maribor Symphony Orchestra will be directed by the Hungarian conductor
Gergely Dubóczky, one of the most outstanding conductors of the younger generation, supported by none other than the renowned Iván Fischer. May the performance in Maribor be for Dubóczky, like it was for the devoted horn players 20 years ago, the decisive stepping stone to the world's most prestigious orchestras!
"It has been exactly twenty years since our quartet, inspired by Schumann’s wonderful piece, has first performed in Maribor; up till then, this very special and rarely performed music had not been heard in our parts of the world. This required the trust of the creators of the program of the then Maribor Philharmonic Orchestra, the active engagement of the four (bold) hornists (two from Hungary, one from Turkey and one from Slovenia), the reliable baton of conductor Pellegrino Amato and, of course, the musicians of the Maribor Philharmonic. Today, twenty years after the groundbreaking event, the musicians have reunited in an identical formation. Our personal and musical paths have since taken many different turns, but now we all joyfully return to Maribor, where the “hunting horn” will be generousely showcased in all its nobility."
Boštjan Lipovšek
Co-produced by
SNG Maribor.
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Tickets: 25 € / Pre-sale 20 € / Senior 20 € / Students, Disability 12,50 €
Discounted tickets can be purchased at the Information office of Narodni dom Maribor or at the concert venue up to an hour before the concert.
