Alter-Ego, a new piece by a composer and rector of Janáček’s Academy of Music and Performing Arts, received its world premiere during a ‘Hommage to Czech music’ concert by the Moravian Philharmonic Orchestra which was at the same time the final concert of the orchestra’s 70th jubilee season. The double concerto for bass clarinet and piano was performed by the two soloists for whom Medek specifically wrote the piece – the excellent British bass clarinet player Gareth Davis who specializes in contemporary and experimental music and the composer’s wife, leading Czech pianist and composer Sára Medková.
Medek sees the alter ego as a natural part of our existence which used to be embraced by the different primitive peoples’ rituals in the past. „Unlike in these old times another crucial factor enters into our lives nowadays – a constant pressure from the outer world which deforms much in ourselves of what used to be natural once,” the author said. „The peaceful coexistence of the two solo instruments is exposed to the orchestra’s aggression which creates discrepancy and disharmony later to be inaugurated once more in the serene sections of this single-movement-piece.” Other works on the programme were the film suite ‘The Emperor’s Nightingale’ by Václav Trojan and Antonín Dvořák’s Symphony no. 7 d minor. The Moravian Philharmonic Orchestra was conducted by Petr Vronský.
7 April 2016, Reduta, Olomouc
Ivo Medek: Alter-Ego. Concerto for bass clarinet, piano and orchestra (world premiere)
Gareth Davis – bass clarinet, Sára Medková – piano
Moravian Philharmonic Orchestra, conductor: Petr Vronský