Four Weddings and a Funeral

Part of «Chamber Music Plus»

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Ouverture of the Opera «Le nozze di Figaro» K. 492
Transcription for Piano four Hands by Franz Ludwig Schubert (1804–1868)

Antonín Dvořák: Five Songs from «Cypřiše» (Cypresses) B. 11 arranged for String Quartet under the title «Ohlas písní» (Echo of Songs) B. 152

Josef Suk: Elegie D flat major for Violin, Violoncello and Piano op. 23

Eugène Ysaÿe: Berceuse for Violin and String Quintet op. 20

César Franck: Sonata A major for Violin and Piano (1886) (Version for Violoncello and Piano)

Duration approx. 75 minutes, no interval

Like the British romantic comedy, the opening concert of Kammermusik plus includes three weddings, another one planned or desired, and a death. After the stirring Figaro overture, the programme is characterised by romantic gems that take us to the Czech Republic and Belgium.

Dvořák's ‘Echo of Songs’ goes back to songs he composed in the throes of his first (unrequited) love. He later married the sister of his adored one, from whose union the daughter Otilie was born, the later wife of Dvořák's pupil Josef Suk. The latter's Elegy is memorial music for the Czech national poet Julius Zeyer.

César Franck gave the dedication of his Violin Sonata in A major to the then aspiring young violinist Eugène Ysaÿe, who performed the work on the day of his wedding in front of an assembled audience. The dreamy, passionate and light-flooded sonata was made famous by Ysaÿe. Ysaÿe's Berceuse is a dark-coloured prayer that only offers a glimmer of hope at the very end.

More on Chamber Music Plus 2025

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Musicians:

Piano: Alasdair Beatson (Mozart, Suk); Paolo Giacometti (Mozart, Franck)

Violin: Bogdan Božović (Dvořák, Ysaÿe); SoYoung Choi (Dvořák, Ysaÿe), Chiara Sannicandro (Suk); Mar