Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Così fan tutte – Overture

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
“Come scoglio immoto resta,” Fiordiligi’s aria from Così fan tutte

Vincenzo Bellini
“Eccomi in lieta vesta… Oh! quante volte,” Giulietta’s aria from I Capuleti e i Montecchi

Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov
“S podrúzhkami po yágodu khodít,” Snow Maiden’s aria from The Snow Maiden

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
“Kuda, kuda,” Lensky’s aria from Eugene Onegin

Antonín Dvořák
“Ach, bože božínku,” Terinka’s aria from The Jacobin

Hector Berlioz
Les Nuits d’été, Op. 7

Maurice Ravel
Alborada del gracioso

Magdalena Rovenská – soprano
Jana Hozmanová – soprano
Daniela Hrubčová – soprano
Eduard Kácal – tenor
Anna Dostálová – soprano
Bella Adamova – mezzo-soprano and mentor of the season
Janáček Philharmonic Ostrava
Conducted by students of the Zurich University of the Arts under the guidance of Christoph M. Mueller

The second concert of the Elán mladých (“The Vitality of Youth”) subscription series presents a selection from operatic and vocal repertoire across nations and centuries, performed by young singers and conducted by students of the Zurich University of the Arts. The evening opens with the overture to Mozart’s Così fan tutte (1790), a sparkling example of the composer’s operatic lightness, dramatic sensitivity, and theatrical wit.

From the same opera comes Fiordiligi’s famous aria “Come scoglio immoto resta,” one of the most demanding dramatic soprano arias of the Classical repertoire. The bel canto style is represented by Giulietta’s lyrical aria “Oh! quante volte” from Bellini’s I Capuleti e i Montecchi (1830), inspired by Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. The world of Russian Romantic opera is evoked in the Snow Maiden’s aria from Rimsky-Korsakov’s fairy-tale opera, while Lensky’s lyrical tenor aria “Kuda, kuda” from Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin ranks among the most moving operatic monologues of the 19th century. The first half concludes with Terinka’s aria “Ach, bože božínku” from Dvořák’s opera The Jacobin.

The second part features Hector Berlioz’s song cycle Les Nuits d’été, Op. 7, a masterful example of French Romantic song. The programme culminates in Maurice Ravel’s Alborada del gracioso, a dazzling orchestral fresco inspired by Spanish rhythms and brilliant orchestral color.