The Amadeus Concert Ensemble opened its 2025-26 season on Sunday afternoon, continuing its exploration of gems of music history in superb performances that are a part of the ongoing Cathedral Concert Series. On this occasion, the theme was “Polish Classics,” a curated look at the work of four prolific Polish composers: Moritz Moszkowski, Henryk Wieniawski, Fryderyk Chopin, and Stanisław Moniuszko.
ACE Artistic Director Brian Salesky, conducting the 40-member orchestral ensemble, opened the afternoon concert with two relatively light orchestral works by Moritz Moszkowski: the popular Spanish Dance, Op. 12 No. 1, and three sections from Aus aller Herren Länder (From Foreign Lands), Op. 23.
Next came two works for violin and orchestra by Henryk Wieniawski featuring KSO violinist Zofia Glashauser: Legende, Op. 17, and the Polonaise Brilliante No. 1, Op. 4. Ms. Glashauser brought a beautifully and sensitively painted arc to Legende, an arc that starts gently, but lavishes embellishments and complexity on the solo violin line as the piece proceeds. The inescapable logistics of the cathedral space, no doubt, dictated that the soloist be positioned behind the orchestra—but somewhere closer to the audience would have benefited the solo violin’s prominence in the acoustic balance.
Although it is difficult to separate Chopin from his piano works, he is also known for 19 songs, three of which were included on the concert. Alto Diana Salesky was perfectly matched for the rhythm, timbre, and emotional energy of the works: “Zyczenie,” “Dwojaki Koniec,” and “Wojak.”
Concluding with opera excerpts, Maestro Salesky chose from the mid-19th Century and a tragic tale: Halka by Stanisław Moniuszko. After the descriptive overture, ACE examined three arias. Soprano Linda Barnett, making her first appearance with ACE, sang “Oh, to be a lark.” Tenor John Overholt sang “How can you believe him”; baritone Joel Brown joined Overholt in the emotional duet “I told you to go.”
