A concert of the Polish Sinfonia Iuventus Orchestra conducted by Mirosław Jacek Błaszczyk with the laureate of the Stanisław Moniuszko International Polish Music Competition in Rzeszów, pianist Pavel Dombrovsky will take place on 25 January 2020 at 7.00 p.m. at the Concert Hall of the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in Warsaw. The artists will present works by Ignacy Jan Paderewski, Alexander Borodin and Paul Dukas.
Alexander Borodin, the oldest of a group of composers which went down in the history of music as the Mighty Handful, was a chemist by education and profession who only occasionally wrote music. Although a ‘dilettante’, as he would introduce himself on many occasions, his technique was excellent, and his works entered the canon of Russian music as its centrepieces. Ecstatic, exotic and energetic, the Polovtsian Dances (the Polovtsians being a mystery people from the steppes of the present-day Kazakhstan and fringe of Siberia whom the eponymous character invades) were among the fragments which the author wrote first, and nowadays – performed as a separate piece – they are regarded as symphonic ‘hits’.
Paul Dukas, a contemporary and friend of the famous Claude Debussy, is an author somewhat forgotten in the present day. While only few of his works reappear on stage at concert halls and theatres, his name has been immortalized by a symphonic scherzo The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, based on J.W. Goethe’s playful ballad.
Pavel Dombrovsky, an outstanding Russian pianist and winner of many prestigious competitions, performs the Piano Concerto in A minor by Ignacy Jan Paderewski, a pianist, composer and statesman. Full of spectacular virtuosity, this piece was written by Paderewski at 28, on the brink of his fame, which came relatively late. The success of the world premiere (with the participation of Anette Essipoff, performing under the baton of the great Hans Richter) confirmed that his work was a masterpiece, marking the beginning of his long career on the world’s stages. Of course, through its beautiful stylisations of national motifs, it is close to the Polish audience’s heart in particular.
Piotr Maculewicz
Media patronage: Polish Music Information Centre POLMIC.
More information at: https://sinfoniaiuventus.pl/