The 29th edition of the Ludwig van Beethoven Easter Festival will take place in Warsaw from April 6-18, 2025. The festival will feature 8 symphonic concerts, 3 song recitals, 2 piano recitals, and 2 chamber music concerts. The theme of this year’s edition, "Beethoven and Great Poetry", has defined the program, which is filled with vocal-instrumental works and compositions inspired by literature, ranging from Beethoven to Ferenc Liszt, Gustav Mahler, Richard Strauss, Maurice Ravel, and Krzysztof Penderecki.
Elżbieta Penderecka, the festival's director, has invited many renowned soloists and conductors to participate, as well as the best national and international symphonic orchestras: the National Forum of Music Orchestra, conducted by the world-famous Christoph Eschenbach, the Cracow Philharmonic under the baton of maestro Lawrence Foster, the Silesian Philharmonic led by Yaroslav Shemet, the Łódź Philharmonic conducted by Paweł Przytocki, the Polish Radio Orchestra in Warsaw conducted by Leonard Slatkin; and the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Christoph König. For the first time at the festival, the Beethovenorchester from Bonn will perform, led by its musical director, Dirk Kaftan.
The vocal recitals promise to be especially exciting. The internationally successful soprano Izabela Matuła, accompanied by pianist Krzysztof Książek, will perform songs by Chopin, Moniuszko, Karłowicz, and Szymanowski.
The Orava Quartet concert will take place under the patronage of the Embassy of Australia in Poland. The ensemble will perform, among other works, the Second String Quartet "Spiski" by Sławomir Czarnecki and the Third String Quartet "Pages from an Unwritten Diary" by Krzysztof Penderecki.
During concerts under the patronage of the Federal Republic of Germany, the Sixth Symphony "Chinesische Lieder" by Krzysztof Penderecki and the String Trio Op. 48 by Mieczysław Weinberg will be performed.
In the final concert, which will take place on Good Friday, we will hear Kaddish by Krzysztof Penderecki and Kaddish by Leonard Bernstein.
As in previous editions, the main concert program will be supplemented by accompanying events: the Exhibition of Musical Manuscripts at the Jagiellonian Library and the International Scientific Symposium.
The festival is co-financed by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage and the City of Warsaw, with the honorary patronage of President Andrzej Duda.
Detailed programme: http://beethoven.org.pl/festiwal/29-wielkanocny-festiwal-ludwiga-van-beethovena/program-2/program-29-wielkanocnego-festiwalu-ludwiga-van-beethovena/
