Olsztyn | Stage for Polish Music: Piotr Sałajczyk

Outstanding pianist Piotr Sałajczyk will perform works by Franciszek Lessel, Juliusz Zarębski, Władysław Żeleński, Mieczysław Weinberg and Władysław Szpilman on 5 November 2020 at 7.00 p.m. at the Feliks Nowoieski Warmian-Masurian Philharmonic in Olsztyn as part of the "Stage for Polish music" series.

All the mentioned composers, representing different periods and styles, have one thing in common – they lived and created in difficult times for Poland, from the partitions to World War II.

Juliusz Zarębski, an extremely talented pianist who performed successfully on stages all over Europe, is remembered mainly as the author of the Piano Quintet in G minor, but also the impressive Grand Polonaise, Op. 6, dedicated to his teacher Franz Liszt. Piano Sonata, Op. 1 No. 2 by Franciszek Lessel, who studied for nine years with Joseph Haydn, shows the influence of the Viennese classics. The music of Władysław Żeleński, composer active in Warsaw and Kraków, was permeated with neo-romantic character, including his picturesque piano miniatures, e.g. Variations in B minor, Op. 62. The work of the composer in exile Mieczysław Weinberg was greatly appreciated by his friend Dmitri Shostakovich, whose musical style influenced Weinberg's impressive Piano Sonata, Op. 8 No. 2. Władysław Szpilman is remembered today mainly for the film The Pianist. His youthful piano suite Life of Machines, created under the influence of French neoclassicism, reflects a futuristic fascination with technology and the accelerating pace of city life.

The concert is co-organized as part of the "Stage for Polish music" programme of the Institute of Music and Dance.

More information at: https://filharmonia.olsztyn.pl/