Capella Cracoviensis (CC) was established in 1970 on the initiative of Jerzy Katlewicz, Director of Kraków Philharmonic at that time, who appointed Stanisław Gałoński to create an ensemble specialising in period music performance. Over the years, Capella Cracoviensis became an independent entity performing various repertoire ranging from Medieval music to world premieres of contemporary pieces. Since November 2008, Jan Tomasz Adamus has been CC's General and Artistic Director.
Capella Cracoviensis chamber choir and orchestra is one of the most interesting ensembles on the contemporary scene of period music. Its repertoire ranges from Renaissance polyphony to early Romantic operas performed on period instruments using historical performance techniques. CC has been hosted at many important festivals and concerts halls, including Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Bachfest Leipzig, SWR Festspiele Schwetzingen, Händel Festspiele Halle, Haydn Festspiele Brühl, Opéra Royal Versailles, Theater an der Wien, the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra in Katowice, Szczecin Philharmonic and the Misteria Paschalia Festival in Kraków. The ensemble has already performed with such eminent guests as Evelino Pidó, Christophe Rousset, Alessandro Moccia, Giuliano Carmignola, Paul Goodwin, Andrew Parrott and Paul McCreesh.
One of CC's greatest successes was the performance of all Beethoven's symphonies on historical instruments within one day, on 27 August 2016 in Kraków, with live transmission on the radio. The total of 2300 audience members could appreciate the mastery of 90 instrumentalists, 44 singers and 5 conductors.
The latest achievements of CC include the first performance of Wagner's works on historical instruments with the participation of Waltraud Meier (Wesendonck-Lieder) and the recording of the following operas by Pergolesi and Porpora for Decca Records: Pergolesi: Adriano in Siria (Fagioli Basso Sancho Adamus), and Porpora: Germanico in Germania (Cencic Leznieva Adamus), awarded with Diapason d'Or.
CC's other albums include Te Deum / Lully & Charpentier with Le Poème Harmonique (conducted by Vincent Dumestre) and the recordings of Bach's motets (conducted by Fabio Bonizzoni) for Alpha records as well as the piano concerto in F minor and the unfinished symphony by Schubert (Klimsiak / Adamus) for AviMusic.
In May 2018 CC began the six-year project "Haydn: complete symphonies 2018-2023" including concerts and live recordings.
CC has staged the following operas: Amadigi di Gaula by Handel, The Marriage of Figaro by Mozart and Orfeo ed Euridice by Gluck, and prepared such special projects as Monteverdi's madrigals performed in a milk bar, Mendelssohn's songs for choir staged in the woods and A Midsummer Night's Dream with the participation of children with visual impairments as actors or Mozart's Requiem as karaoke directed by Cezary Tomaszewski.
updated: 2020 (ac)
