Excellent chamber music has been at the heart of the 20th Felix Mendelssohn Music Days since its inception, and the anniversary edition will be no different. Krakow's Kazimierz will resound with compositions by the event’s patron, including piano trios (the Phoenix Chamber Ensemble’s pianists together with violinist Piotr Marciak and cellist Tomasz Wyroba) and the brilliant Octet Op. 20, a sonically innovative work with a revolutionary cast by only 16-year-old Mendelssohn as interpreted by the combined forces of the Silesian and Aperto string quartets. In turn, the Al Pari Quartet will recall the achievements of Fanny Mendelssohn and juxtapose them with a piece for string quartet and klezmer clarinet (Bartłomiej Dobrowolski) – The Dreams and Prayers of Isaac the Blind, which its author Osvaldo Golijov has called ‘a kind of epic history of Judaism’. Łukasz Długosz and Carlos Roberto Peña Montoya will present works for flute and harp (plenty of French music: Fauré, Debussy, Ibert, but also Górecki), and the programme will be rounded off by organ recitals: an organ recital by Andrzej Białko featuring Baroque and Romantic fugues (Bach, Mendelssohn, Liszt), and piano recitals by Yehuda Prokopowicz and Szymon Nehring – both artists will focus on compositions by Fryderyk Chopin.

Friday, 9 May 2025, 7pm
INAUGURATION CONCERT

SILESIAN QUARTET:
Szymon Krzeszowiec 1. violin
Arkadiusz Kubica 2. violin
Łukasz Syrnicki viola
Piotr Janosik cello
and
Michał Dziewior piano

APERTO QUARTET:
Karolina Górny-Dziewior violin
Wiktoria Trzebowska viola
Alicja Dąbrowska violin
Aleksandra Stolarek-Stachura cello

Robert Schumann (1810-1856) Piano Quintet in E flat major, Op. 44
Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy (1809-1847) String Octet in E flat major, Op. 20

Saturday, 10 May 2025, 7pm
PIANO RECITAL
Szymon Nehring
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) Sonata in F minor, Op. 2 No. 1
Fryderyk Chopin (1810-1849)

• Nocturne in F major, Op. 15 No. 1
• Rondo á la Mazurka in F major, Op. 5
• Bolero in A minor, Op. 19
• Etiuda in E major, Op. 10 No. 3
• Etiuda in E minor, Op. 25 No. 5
• Etiuda in B minor, Op. 25 No. 10
• Scherzo in E major, Op. 54

Sunday, 11 May 2025, 7pm
CHAMBER CONCERT
AL PARI QUARTET:
Dominik Kossakowski violin
Alicja Miruk-Mirska violin
Magdalena Maier-Borowska viola
Elżbieta Rychwalska-Dobrowolska cello
and
Bartłomiej Dobrowolski clarinets
Fanny Mendelssohn-Hensel (1805-1847) String Quartet in E flat major
Osvaldo Golijov (*1960) The Dreams and Prayers of Isaac The Blind for Klezmer Clarinet and String Quartet

Monday, 12 May 2025, 7pm
CHAMBER CONCERT
PHOENIX CHAMBER ENSEMBLE:
Vassa Shevel piano
Ellen Braslavsky piano
featuring
Piotr Marciak violin
Tomasz Wyroba cello
Franz Schubert (1797-1828) Fantaisie in F minor D. 940
Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy (1809-1847) Piano Trio in D minor, Op. 49 No. 1
Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy (1809-1847) Piano Trio in C minor, Op. 66 No. 2

Tuesday, 13 May 2025, 8pm
St Mary’s Basilica
ORGAN RECITAL
Andrzej Białko
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) Prelude and Fugue in E flat major BWV 552
Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy (1809-1847) Three Preludes and Fugues for organ, Op. 37
Ferenc Liszt (1811-1886) Fantaisie and Fugue on the Theme of “Ad nos, ad salutarem undam”

Wednesday, 14 May 2025, 7pm
CHAMBER CONCERT
Łukasz Długosz flute
Carlos Roberto Peña Montoya harp
Gabriel Fauré (1845-1924) Morceau de Concours
Claude Debussy (1862-1918) Arabesque No. 1
Christoph Willibald Gluck (1714-1787) Dance of the Blessed Spirits
Felix Godefroid (1818-1897) Étude de concert in E flat minor, Op. 193 (harp solo)
Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy (1809-1847) Tröstung, Op. 71 No. 1
Georges Bizet (1838-1875) Intermezzo
Adam Wesołowski (*1980) Angels
Henryk Mikołaj Górecki (1933-2010) Good Night, Op. 63 (Lento) (alto flute and harp)
Joachim (Johannes?) Donjon (1839-1912) Rossignolet
Carlos Salzedo (1885-1961) Song in the Night (harp solo)
Jacques Ibert (1890-1962) Entr’acte

Thursday, 15 May 2025, 7pm
PIANO RECITAL
Yehuda Prokopowicz
Fryderyk Chopin (1810-1849)

• Mazurka in A minor, Op. 17 No. 4
• Waltz in A flat major, Op. 34 No. 1
• 4 Mazurkas, Op. 33
• Ballade in F major, Op. 38
• Nocturne in F sharp minor, Op. 48 No. 2
• Fantaisie in F minor, Op. 49
• Polonaise in A flat major, Op. 53

Friday, 16 May 2025, 7pm
CONCERT BY THE STUDENTS OF THE PRO MUSICA BONA FOUNDATION IN KRAKOW
Prof. Stefan Wojtas in memoriam

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) Sonata No. 9 in A major “Kreutzer”, Op. 47
Julia Błachuta violin  
Sławomir Cierpik piano

Dionisio Aguado (1784-1849) Le Fandango Varié, Op. 16
Julia Kosek guitar

Robert Schumann (1820-1856) Drei Romanzen, Op. 94
Dorota Pałka clarinet
Eryk Koszela piano

Emil Dunkler (1838-1871) La Fileuse/ étude de concert, Op. 14
Michał Domagała cello
Sławomir Cierpik piano

Paule Maurice (1910-1967) Tableaux de Provence
Igor Chyrc saxophone
Tatsiana Yakubenia-Skiba piano

Floyd Werle (1929-2010) The Golden Age of the Xylophone
Adam Przetocki xylophone
Paweł Domaradzki piano

Fryderyk Chopin (1810-1849) Andante spianato et Grande polonaise brillante, Op. 22
Zuzanna Wojdak piano

Concert under the patronage of the Pro Musica Bona Foundation in Kraków

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Unless stated otherwise, all concerts take place at the Center for Jewish Culture.