The Hungarian National
Philharmonic pay tribute to Prague with an evening of music inspired by the
city. On Mozart’s first visit there, he presented his Prague Symphony, which
became an enormous success and opens this performance at the Franz Liszt Music
Academy. Next comes the Trumpet Concerto by Mozart’s pupil Johann Nepomuk
Hummel, which he wrote for the virtuoso Anton Weidinger. It was first performed
on New Year’s Day 1804 to celebrate the composer’s accession to the court orchestra
of Prince Esterházy, replacing Joseph Haydn who had also written his own
Trumpet Concerto for the same musician. For Saturday night’s concert, award-winning
Hungarian trumpet player Tamás Pálfalvi is the soloist. After the intermission
comes the only symphony by Czech composer Voříšek, of a style
similar to Beethoven and Schubert.
