NFM LEOPOLDINUM ORCHESTRA & ALEXANDER SITKOVETSKY

With its concert, the NFM Leopoldinum Orchestra, based in Dresden's Polish twin city of Wrocław, brings a huge dose of Mediterranean flair to the Elbe River. The vibrant ensemble and its Artistic Director, violinist Alexander Sitkovetsky, have prepared five works, primarily by Italian composers. As a calling card from their homeland, they will perform a piece by Wojciech Kilar, best known for his music for Hollywood classics such as The Pianist and Bram Stoker's Dracula. His piece Orawa from 1986 is inspired by the folklore of the Polish mountain regions and is characterized by a minimalist, meditative style. In Giuseppe Verdi's string quartet, first performed in 1873, his dramatic theatrical genius is fascinatingly combined with the strict form of the genre. Niccolò Paganini, in turn, once caused a sensation with his variations on a theme from Rossini's Moses in Egypt, which is only played on the G string. His famous Cantabile in D major as well as Tchaikovsky's "Souvenir de Florence", which in an inimitable way musically captures the Italian lightness and the Dolce Vita, round off this sonorous musical journey.

NFM LEOPOLDINUM ORCHESTRA
ALEXANDER SITKOVETSKY VIOLIN AND DIRECTION

Wojciech KilarOrawa
Giuseppe Verdi Streichquartett e-Moll
Niccolò PaganiniMoses Fantasy and Cantabile in D major Op. 17
Peter Tschaikowsky String Sextet in D minor Op. 70 Souvenir de Florence
(all works in a version for string orchestra)