The program’s dramaturgical thread is rooted in folk song. The selected composers—including one female composer—like Bohuslav Martinů, were masters at working with folkloric idioms, which often resonated even in their purely “artificial songs.”

The concert opens with Slovak Songs by Bohuslav Martinů, arranged for voice and piano after he spent over two months in Slovakia. These are followed by Songs from the Mountains by Eugen Suchoň, who brilliantly set anonymous folk texts to music, and Village Scenes by Béla Bartók—arrangements of Slovak folk songs from 1924.

A special place in the program is given to Martinů’s Lullaby from the cycle Two Songs on Negro Poetry, and the concert concludes with Oh, My Heart (Ej, srdénko moje) by Klement Slavický, who, like Martinů, was a student of the great Josef Suk.

Audiences can also look forward to solo performances by Marek Kozák, one of the finest pianists of his generation. Throughout the evening, he will be the chamber music partner of the outstanding soprano Simona Šaturová, whose artistic excellence is recognized not only in her native country but also on major stages around the world.

https://www.saturova.com/
https://www.marek-kozak.cz/