The Józef Elsner Opole Philharmonic invites you on 19 November 2021 at 7.00 p.m. to a concert entitled "Once Upon a Time in Paris", featuring the Opole Philharmonic Orchestra and the organist Karol Mossakowski under the baton of Jakub Chrenowicz.

The thirties and forties of the twentieth century. Two Poles and a French. Probably both Polish composers – Antoni Szałowski and Andrzej Panufnik – met Francis Poulenc in Paris. Before World War II, Szałowski went to study with the famous Nadia Boulanger and he stayed in the capital of France for the rest of his life. The neoclassical, daring and pleasant Overture was the last composition he wrote under the tutelage of the great professor. Concerto for organ, timpani and strings by a Paris born Francis Poulenc was composed two years earlier. This work consists of a single continuous movement with seven tempo marks and it contains references to the Baroque era.

In 1938, when Poulenc was composing his Organ Concerto, Andrzej Panufnik was studying conducting in the same city. However, the young artist soon returned to Poland, where he spent the cruel time of World War II. In his homeland, which was rising from the rubble after the war, remembering the centenary of Chopin's death, he wrote Sinfonia Rustica inspired by the Kurpie folklore. The symmetry of the Kurpie paper-cuts was reflected by the unusual setting of the orchestra on the stage – this unusual idea guarantees not only an unusual view, but also an interesting acoustic experience.

Media patronage: Polish Music Information Centre POLMIC.

Ticket Information: https://filharmonia.opole.pl/