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The Sfogato Music and Art Society in Krakow invites you on 8 March 2018 at 12.00 p.m. for the inauguration of the 1st "Piano e Forte" Festival and Competition at the "Florianka"  Auditorium of the Cracow Music Academy.

The "Piano e Forte" Festival and Competition, whose founder and artistic director is pianist Marta Polańska, is an innovative project that works in a holistic way. The aim of the "Piano e Forte" Festival and Competition is to show the history of the piano's evolution in the context of the development of the piano repertoire, the study of mutual relations, and the impact of new achievements in the piano mechanism on the repertoire as well as innovative composing techniques for instrument development. The "Piano e Forte" competition is also aimed at inspiring young pianists to deepen their knowledge of the history of the instrument, raising awareness of the performing practices of a diverse repertoire on contemporary and historical pianos, as well as learning interpretational trends and piano literature of different epochs.

The first edition will take place on the 320th anniversary of the first mention of the invention of the Italian builder Bartolomeo Cristofori, showing the historical route of piano "From Italian soil to Poland". Through the repertoire of works by Polish composers performed during concerts and the "Piano e Forte" Competition, it also constitutes a part of the celebration of the 100th anniversary of Poland's regaining of Independence.

During the inauguration, we will hear works by Fryderyk Chopin in transcription for violin and piano and compositions by Krystyna Moszumańska-Nazar on the 10th anniversary of her death: Konstelacje and APigram dedicated to prof. dr hab. Andrzej Pikul, who will perform this work.

Admission free.

Media patronage: Polish Music Information Centre POLMIC.

Detailed information at: www.pianoeforte.pl 

On March 14, 2018 at 7 p.m. at the National Forum of Music works by Krzysztof Penderecki will be interpreted by the outstanding violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter.

A multiple winner of Grammy Award in the category of classical and a student of the legendary Herbert von Karajan, invites you to her recital at the National Forum of Music. Anne-Sophie Mutter will once again prove that she fits perfectly in the repertoire from different eras – the program of the concert will include Baroque and Romantic music. A special place will be taken by Polish musicians: we will hear two works by one of the nestors of contemporary Polish music, Krzysztof Penderecki.

Anne-Sophie Mutter is today one of the most recognizable violinists, appreciated by music lovers around the world. Mutter's remarkable talent has been appreciated by contemporary composers, and in addition to the classical repertoire, the artist also performs new music. The Polish audience eagerly accepted her collaboration with leading Polish composers: Witold Lutosławski and Krzysztof Penderecki. Mutter's friendship with Penderecki resulted in works dedicated to the famous violinist, two of which we will hear at the NFM Main Concert Hall. One of them is Duo concertante per violino e contrabbasso, commissioned by the Mutter foundation. The piece was written for the artist and one of her scholarship holders, Roman Patcol. La Follia per violino solo was a birthday present for Mutter; the premiere of this composition took place less than five years ago at the New York Carnegie Hall. The work refers to baroque music, and for the performer it is a great virtuoso challenge.

Additional information at: http://www.nfm.wroclaw.pl

The 50th jubilee season of the Polish Radio Orchestra Amadeus continues. The next concert, dedicated to women on the occasion of their holiday, will take place in the beautiful Hall of the Adam Mickiewicz University on March 11, 2018 at 6.00 p.m.

After a phenomenal concert with Wynton Marsalis and Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, the band will perform with a family duo - Krzysztof and Jakub Jakowicz, as well as with a talented young violinist Inés Issel Burzyńska. The Amadeus Polish Chamber Orchestra will be conducted by Agnieszka Duczmal.

Krzysztof Jakowicz is an outstanding Polish violinist, especially appreciated by Witold Lutosławski, whom the composer entrusted Polish premieres of all his violin pieces. At the invitation of Lutosławski, the violinist performed the composer's works under his baton in important musical centers of the world. The artist received many distinctions, among others the prize of Polish Composers' Union for multiple performances of contemporary music (in many cases dedicated to him). He was invited many times to participate in world-famous festivals. Jakub Jakowicz studied violin with his father. He has been giving concerts since the age of 11. In 1998, at the invitation of Krzysztof Penderecki, he appeared at the composer's festival in Krakow, presenting Capriccio per violino and Orchestra under the baton of Jerzy Maksymiuk. In 2001, the violinist made his debut with the Munich Philharmonics conducted by Pinchas Steinberg, performing the First Violin Concerto by Karol Szymanowski. From that time he appeared as a soloist with many renowned orchestras and collaborated with world-famous conductors.

During the concert we will also hear a young violinist born in Spain, Inés Issel Burzyńska, who began learning to play violin with her mother, Iwona Burzyńska. From the academic year 2012-2013, she is a student at the Queen Sophia College of Music in Madrid in the violin class of prof. Zakhar Bron. She received a scholarship from the Albéniz Foundation, a scholarship from the Puig Foundation and a scholarship from the Spanish Musicians and Composers Association.

The artists will present St. Paul's Suite op. 29 No. 2 by Gustaw Holst, Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso op. 28 by Camille Saint-Saëns, Serenade for string orchestra by Piotr Czajkowski and Concerto "Liliowe" for two violins and strings by Sławomir Czarnecki.

Honorary Patronage: Marshal of the Wielkopolska Region, Marek Woźniak and President of Poznań, Jacek Jaśkowiak. Patronage: City of Poznań.

More information at: www.amadeus.pl 

Gioachino Rossini's opera seria Semiramide will be broadcast live from the Metropolitan Opera in New York on March 10, 2018 at the Praha Cinema in Warsaw.

This masterpiece of dazzling vocal fireworks makes a rare Met appearance – its first in nearly 25 years – with Maurizio Benini on the podium. The all-star bel canto cast features Angela Meade in the title role of the murderous Queen of Babylon, who squares off in breathtaking duets with Arsace, a trouser role sung by Elizabeth DeShong. Javier Camarena, Ildar Abdrazakov, and Ryan Speedo Green complete the stellar cast.

Semiramide is the culmination of the Italian phase of Rossini’s monumental yet unusual career. He had already produced such immortal comedies as Il Barbiere di Siviglia and L’Italiana in Algeri, but in the early 19th century he was celebrated above all else for his tragedies – none more so than Semiramide. For decades after its premiere, the opera swept through the music capitals of Europe and beyond, enthralling audiences with its urgent, transcendentally beautiful use of melody; undeniably exhilarating drama; and, most importantly, astonishing vocal displays. Rossini’s epic is set in ancient Babylon, now modern-day Iraq, a kingdom which flourished between the 18th and sixth centuries BCE. While the opera does include a handful of local details for color, including the legendary Hanging Gardens, Rossini and Rossi were more concerned with establishing a feeling of legend and wonder than presenting any true historical accuracy.

The music of Semiramide combines the cherished assets of Rossini’s style—magnificent vocalism, irresistible melody, buoyant energy—with achievements unique to this score. The extremely difficult vocal style necessary for the solos is evident from the title character’s ravishing aria, “Bel raggio lusinghier.” Rossini’s famous mastery of rhythm forms the core of this opera. In the justly famous duets, subtle rhythmic changes and pulsing melodic figures illustrate the characters’ emerging realizations. And the towering ensembles, such as the extended Act I finale, are proof of the vast musical conception Rossini realized in this opera, far beyond opportunities limited to superficial vocal display.

The performance will be in the original language (Italian) with Polish subtitles. List of cinemas, dates of shows and cast – here.

Media patronage: Polish Music Information Centre POLMIC.

Additional information at: http://www.kinopraha.pl

On March 2, 2018 the Jury of the Competition granted two Hieronim Feicht awards and two distinctions.

Jury composed of: dr hab. Paweł Gancarczyk, prof. IS PAN (chairman), dr hab. Katarzyna Dadak-Kozicka, prof. UMFC, prof. dr hab. Zbigniew Skowron, prof. dr hab. Małgorzata Woźna-Stankiewicz, prof. dr hab. Remigiusz Pośpiech, dr hab. Agnieszka Leszczyńska, and dr Beata Bolesławska-Lewandowska decided unanimously to award (ex aequo) the following authors:

1) Grzegorz Joachimiak (Institute of Musicology, University of Wrocław) for his work Manuscript lute tablatures from the first half of the 18th century from the Cistercian collection of Krzeszów. Repertoire – performance practice – artistic patronage;

2) Ilona Iwańska (Academy of Music in Krakow) for her work Expressive-semantic aspect of tonality. In the circle of vocal lyric poetry of Modernism.

At the same time, the Jury of the Competition decided to award two distinctions to the following authors:

1) Michał Piekarski (Institute for the History of Science, Polish Academy of Sciences) for the book Interrupted counterpoint. Adolf Chybiński and the beginnings of Polish musicology in Lviv 1912-1944;

2) Andrzej Godek (Institute of Musicology, Jagiellonian University) for the work Studies on the repertoire of pseudo-choral arrangements of the ordinarium missae, preserved in eighteenth-century manuscripts from Krakow libraries and archives.

Congratulations to all the winners!