Gallant Conversations
Viola da Gamba at the Chambers of Royals and Dukes
Mariánské nám. 5, Praha 1
Programme
Christian Podbielski (1741–1792)
Sonata A major for viola da gamba & b.c.
Maciej Kamieński (1734–1821)
Andante F major for harpsichord solo
Christian Wilhelm Podbielski (1740–1792)
Sonata G major for viola da gamba & b.c.
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1740)
Sonata D major for viola da gamba & harpsichord obligato, BWV 1028
Carl Friedrich Abel (1723–1787)
Sonata F major for harpsichord obligato & violin (arr. for viola da gamba), KW 112
Sonata G major for viola da gamba & b.c., A2:68A
Concert with intermission. Expected end of the concert 21.15.
Annotation
The concert named Gallant Conversations will be a truly inspiring evening for listeners, not just musically (the music of Johann Sebastian Bach will also be performed together with the music of Christian Podbielski, Maciej Kamieński and Carl Friedrich Abel), but also on a human level, as it will take the form of a marital dialogue, that is to say, a gallant and delicate one... The Polish virtuosos Anna and Krzysztof are connected not only by their passion for music, but also a common surname, Firlus. In a delightful combination of viola da gamba (viol) and harpsichord they will perform many Czech premieres, especially the sonatas of the aforementioned Carl Friedrich Abel, a pupil of the great Bach in Leipzig, which were discovered only recently in the University Library in Poznań. They reveal Abel to have been a virtuoso, imaginative and gallant master composer…
Venue
Mariánské nám. 5, Praha 1
Show on mapPartners of the concert
With the kind support of the National Library of the Czech Republic.
Artists
Anna Firlus
harpsichord
Anna Firlus is an organist and harpsichordist; member of the {oh!} Orkiestra Historyczna and the Extempore Ensemble.
She has been invited to perform at numerous festivals in Poland and abroad, including Mixtur im Bass, Großräschener Orgelkonzerte, the Summer Festivities of Early Music, Brühler Schlosskonzerte, Festiwal Bachowski Świdnica, All’improvviso, Musica Poetica, Muzyka na Sczytach and the Gaude Mater International Festival of Sacred Music.
Anna Firlus is a graduate of the Karol Szymanowski Academy of Music in Katowice, where she studied organ under Professor J. Gembalski, and harpsichord under Professor M. Toporowski. She has participated in many masterclasses given by such outstanding musicians as J. Perrot, Ch. Bossert, Ch. Grohmann, B. Hass, M. Lehtonen, L. Lohmann, A. Spiri, A. Zylberajch, W. Kłosiewicz, L. Kędracki and R. Podger.
Anna Firlus is a lecturer in historical performance practice at the Academy of Music in Katowice.
Krzysztof Firlus
viola da gamba
Krzysztof Firlus pursues a two-fold career, as a viola da gamba and double bass player, playing both instruments as a soloist as well as in chamber ensembles and orchestras. He studied under Vittorio Ghielmi at the Mozarteum University in Salzburg and under Mark Caudle at the Academy of Music in Katowice.
He has been associated with the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra in Katowice, the {oh!} Orkiestra Historyczna and the Extempore Ensemble. He has also worked with the Silesian String Quartet, Le Poème Harmonique, BachAkademie Stuttgart, M. Toporowski, M. Pastuszka and others.
His discography includes the CD “Gamba Sonatas”, recorded with his wife, Anna Firlus, “C. F. Abel – Sonatas from the Maltzan Collection”, “Music of the Warsaw Castle – Music of French Masters” (the {oh!} Orkiestra Historyczna), “Telemann – Solos & Trios” (the Extempore Ensemble), “Tansman – from Trio to Octet” (the Silesian String Quartet), “Music in Dresden in the Times of Augustus II the Strong” and “Lithuanian Birbyne: Seventeenth Century Music of Poland and Lithuania” (M. Toporowski).
He currently runs a viola da gamba class (the Academy of Music in Katowice) and a double bass class (the Academy of Music in Kraków).
