One hundred years after the premiere of Petar Stojanović’s Violin Concerto No 2, this piece will be performed by the Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra, under Eiji Oue, on Friday 7 April (Kolarac, 8pm). Mirjana Nešković, Assistant Concertmaster of the Belgrade Philharmonic, will appear as the soloist in front of her home orchestra.
One of the most significant composers of the early 20th century, violinist Petar Stojanović is famous for his violin concertos. His Concerto No 2 was premiered in Prague in 1916 and it is still considered as his most successful concertante work. However, owing to the lack of sheet music, it was absent from concert stages for more than fifty years.
In an effort to do justice to this piece of indisputable value, the Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra included it into one of its programmes, as part of the series For Adventurers. The orchestra material was is very poor condition, with parts of it buried in the libraries of the Belgrade Philharmonic and the Faculty of Music, while the sheet music was missing. Thanks to composer and retired Professor Mirjana Živković, the piece was reconstructed in 2016 and prepared for performance.
Since Petar Stojanović was a member of the Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra, the piece will be performed by Mirjana Nešković, Assistant Concertmaster of this orchestra.
“I feel that playing in front of your fellow musicians from the orchestra is the greatest privilege there is, as well as a big challenge. Expectations are very tricky – they can be a crushing burden on your back, or they can be a pair of wings. In my case, they give me immense inspiration. The concerto was written in the spirit of Romanticism. It offers so many opportunities for giving your own signature to it, so that I genuinely enjoyed preparing it. I am looking forward to every second of playing in front of my orchestra”, Mirjana said in anticipation of the concert.
The orchestra’s adventure, fourth in this series, will be directed by popular and eccentric Eiji Oue. Stojanović’s piece will be played between Wagner’s Tannhäuser overture and Mussorgsky’s magnificent Pictures at an Exhibition.
