From songs for a single voice to operas, from 16th-century psalms to works by Paweł Mykietyn, from solos to symphonies – the festival focuses on all that’s best in Polish music! This year’s 13th Festival of Polish Music presents works which earned their composers a well-deserved place on the global music map, as well as reviewing the latest Polish music and confronting it with compositions from beyond our borders. All this comes together into eleven concerts and countless emotions.

Expansive formats

The festival opens with one of the most important operas of the early 20th century: Karol Szymanowski’s unusual, original and ambiguous King Roger. We can also add “unconventional” to the list of adjectives, since the libretto – co-written by the composer and Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz – contains no romance, murder, duels or cases of mistaken identity usually indispensable in operas. Instead we are treated to a conflict between intellect and instinct, between Apollo and Dionysus, between order and chaos, personified by the main protagonist and the mysterious Shepherd. The action is maintained almost exclusively on an emotional level, illustrated by the solos: the Shepherd’s seductive, blasphemous My God Is as Beautiful as I Am, Roxana’s enchanting Lullaby and the hymn at the arrival of the morning sun performed during the finale by Roger himself. The concert version resounds on 7 July at the Church of St Catherine with an excellent cast: Valdis Jansons in the title role is joined by Wojciech Parchem as the Shepherd and Elżbieta Szmytka as Roxana. The soloists and choir – essential in this masterpiece! – and orchestra of the Wrocław Opera are conducted by Marcin Nałęcz-Niesiołowski.

We encounter another expansive vocal and instrumental performance on 9 July, once again at the Church of St Catherine, with Stanisław Moniuszko’s little-known cantata Phantoms – the musical illustration to the second part of Forefathers’ Eve. The spirit of Mickiewicz is invoked by Artur Janda (baritone) joined by the Kraków Philharmonic Choir and the Sinfonia Iuventus Polish Orchestra under the baton of Maciej Tworek.

No pigeonholing

“We haven’t seen a Polish composer with such a rapid and dazzling career since at least the first appearance of the young Krzysztof Penderecki,” wrote Andrzej Chłopecki in the “Wyborcza” daily. A decade on, Paweł Mykietyn remains one of the most fascinating and finest Polish composers and he’s hugely successful at home and abroad. His music is the focus of the concert held on 13 July at the Kraków Philharmonic, presenting a review of the artist’s works from his unconventional play with Baroque music in 3 for 13 from 1993, via Symphony No. 2 (2007) demonstrating that grand symphonies straight from Lutosławski’s school are alive and well, to Concerto for two flutes written as an ongoing accelerando. The latter is presented by Łukasz Długosz and Agata Kielar-Długosz, the same artists who performed at the premiere held just over a year ago at the Baltic Philharmonic in Gdańsk. They will be joined by the Sinfonia Varsovia orchestra and the conductor Bassem Akiki.

Contrasts

But the concert of Mykietyn’s works isn’t the only example of Polish music of the 20th and 21st centuries. The Aukso Orchestra and its conductor Marek Moś appear at the Kraków Philharmonic to present works by Andrzej Krzanowski, Aleksander Lasoń, Eugeniusz Knapik and Witold Lutosławski (8 July). Sinfonietta Cracovia under the baton of Kalle Kuusava perform compositions by Michał Spisak and Wojciech Kilar (including Orava) and Andrzej Panufnik’s Violin Concerto with the soloist Piotr Pławner (15 July). The chamber concert held at the Manggha Museum on 16 July features Aleksander Tansman’s mazurkas, Mikołaj Majkusiak’s One Night of Passion and the premiere of Dariusz Przybylski’s Red on Maroon. Hommage à Mark Rothko.

Contemporary music is contrasted with the performance by the Evangelical Music College presenting a selection of compositions from Jakub Lubelczyk’s 1558 Psalter and Cantional With Melodies (8 July, Church of St Martin). Another counterpoint to recent compositions comes from 19th-century classics of Chopin (played by Claire Huangci; 15 July, Manggha Museum) and Wieniawski whose Violin Concerto in F sharp minor is performed by the German soloist Linus Roth and Sinfonia Iuventus under the baton of Jakub Klecker (14 July, Church of St Catherine).

Encounters

The festival showcases the extensive panorama of works by Polish composers and confronts it with music from other parts of Europe. One such encounter awaits on 9 July at the Manggha Museum with the concert for soprano Isabelle Vernet accompanied on piano by Grzegorz Biegas, performing Jan Paderewski’s 12 Songs and Francis Poulenc’s 8 Polish Songs. We return to the Church of St Catherine for the festival finale on 16 July: we will hear Karol Szymanowski’s Stabat Mater, inspired by folk music and the sounds of the Polish Renaissance, resounding alongside Leoš Janáček’s Věčné Evangelium. The soloists – soprano Urška Arlič Gololičič, mezzo-soprano Jana Sýkorová, tenor Wojciech Parchem and baritone Michał Partyka – are supported by the Polish Radio Choir (incredibly important in both masterpieces!) and the Ostrava Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Wojciech Rodek.

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“Chopin was a great composer, while Górecki composed a symphony,” were the wry words of Piotr Szczepanik, deputy director of the festival, during a lighthearted interview on the current understanding of Polish music. Of course it’s impossible to deny Chopin’s greatness, and Górecki’s Symphony of Sorrowful Songs really did captivate the phonographic market and topped classical music charts the world over. But shouldn’t we also strive to know more, understand more, listen more? We should – and that’s the essence of the Festival of Polish Music. (Barbara Skowrońska)

7 July 2017, 7pm, Church of St Catherine

Valdis Jansons (baritone)
Elżbieta Szmytka (soprano)
Wojciech Parchem (tenor)
Aleksander Zuchowicz (tenor)
Jadwiga Postrożna (mezzo-soprano)
Łukasz Konieczny (bass)
Wrocław Opera Orchestra and Choir
Anna Grabowska-Borys (choirmaster)
Marcin Nałęcz-Niesiołowski (conductor)

K. Szymanowski King Roger (concert version)

Tickets: PLN 50/25 (VIP PLN 100)

8 July 2017, noon, Church of St Martin

Evangelical Music College: Blanka Dembosz (soprano), Oskar Koziołek-Goetz (baritone), Dominik Matczak (violin), Łukasz Laxy (countertenor, cello, artistic direction)

J. Lubelczyk Psalter and Cantional With Melodies – Fair Songs

Admission free, reservations: promocja@fmp.org.pl

8 July 2017, 7pm, Kraków Philharmonic

Michał Prószyński (tenor)
Aukso Orchestra
Marek Moś (conductor)

A. Krzanowski Symphony No. 2
A. Lasoń Hymn and Aria
E. Knapik Wyspy
W. Lutosławski Little Suite for string orchestra
K. Szymanowski Mandragora

Tickets: PLN 50/25 (VIP PLN 75)

9 July 2017, noon, Manggha Museum

Isabelle Vernet (soprano)
Grzegorz Biegas (piano)

I.J. Paderewski 12 Songs Op. 22
F. Poulenc 8 Chansons polonaises

Tickets: PLN 50/25 (VIP PLN 75)

9 July 2017, 20.00, Church of St Catherine

Katarzyna Mackiewicz (soprano)
Maria Rozynek-Banaszak (soprano)
Artur Janda (baritone)
Stanisław Kuflyuk (baritone)
Wojciech Rasiak (bass)
Kraków Philharmonic Choir
Polish Orchestra Sinfonia Iuventus
Teresa Majka-Pacanek (choirmaster)
Maciej Tworek (conductor)

S. Moniuszko Phantoms

Tickets: PLN 50/25 (VIP PLN 75)

13 July 2017, 7pm, Kraków Philharmonic

Łukasz Długosz (flute)
Agata Kielar-Długosz (flute)
Sinfonia Varsovia
Bassem Akiki (conductor)

P. Mykietyn 3 for 13, Double Concerto na two flutes and symphony orchestra, Symphony No. 2

Tickets: PLN 75/50/25

9 July 2017, 7pm, Church of St Catherine

Linus Roth (violin)
Polish Orchestra Sinfonia Iuventus
Jakub Klecker (conductor)

M. Karłowicz Symphony in E minor “Rebirth”
H. Wieniawski Violin Concerto No. 1 in F sharp minor

Tickets: PLN 50/25 (VIP PLN 75)

15 July 2017, noon, Manggha Museum

Claire Huangci (piano)

F. Chopin Polonaise-fantasie in A flatr major Op. 61, Nocturnes Op. 9 No. 2, Op. 27 No. 1, Op. 27 No. 2, Op. 48 No. 1, Sonata Op. 58 No. 3

Tickets: PLN 50/25 (VIP PLN 75)

15 July 2017, 7pm, Kraków Philharmonic

Piotr Pławner (violin)
Sinfonietta Cracovia
Kalle Kuusava (conductor)

W. Kilar Ricordanza, Orawa
A. Panufnik Violin Concerto
M. Spisak Andante and Allegro

Tickets: PLN 50/25 (VIP PLN 75)

16 July 2017, noon, Manggha Museum

Maciej Frąckiewicz (accordion)
Marek Bracha (piano)
Maria Sławek (violin)
Aleksandra Lelek (cello)

A. Krzanowski Wiatr echo niesie po polanie
M. Majkusiak One Night of Passion
K. Mikuli Etude in B major Op. 12
P. Tabakiernik WAM-iationen for accordion solo
A. Tansman Mazurkas for piano solo (selection from book I)
D. Przybylski Red on Maroon. Hommage à Mark Rothko Op. 84 (premiere)
J. Brzowski Rhapsody

Tickets: PLN 30/15 (VIP PLN 50)

16 July 2017, 20.00, Church of St Catherine

Urška Arlič Gololičič (soprano)
Jana Sýkorová (mezzo-soprano)
Wojciech Parchem (tenor)
Michał Partyka (baritone)
Polish Radio Choir
Ostrava Philharmonic Orchestra
Wojciech Rodek (conductor)

L. Janáček Věčné Evangelium
K. Szymanowski Stabat Mater

Tickets: PLN 50/25 (VIP PLN 100)