On January 17, 2019 at 7.00 p.m., the Witold Lutosławski Polish Radio Concert Studio will host a second concert from the cycle "Resounds. New Polish music". The Sinfonia Varsovia Orchestra will perform works of Mieczysław Weinberg and Grażyna Bacewicz. The organizers also invite you to a meeting with the composers' friends and relatives at 6.00 p.m.
The second concert of the cycle "Resounds. New Polish music" is a programmatic counterpoint to other events filled with world premieres of works commissioned by the Sinfonia Varsovia Orchestra. This time, the musicians will present composition from the 40s of the last century to show the wider historical context of new Polish music, with special emphasis on the period of World War II, and to illustrate the changes that have occurred since then. The pretext for this musical retrospection are two unique anniversaries.
This year, Mieczysław Weinberg would celebrate his 100th birthday. His Cello Concerto, Op. 43 will be interpreted by Marcel Markowski, a respected soloist, chamber musician, and also a leader of the Sinfonia Varsovia cello group. This work comes from the period when Weinberg, after escaping from Warsaw, was arranging his new life in exile in the USSR. The death of loved ones, the persecution of the Jews and the horrors of war were clearly reflected in music written by Weinberg at that time. Dmitri Shostakovich, who had great appreciation for Weinberg's work, helped him in many difficult moments. The programme will also feature the classicist and light Symphony No. 9 in E flat major by the Russian artist of Polish origin.
In addition, the day of the concert martk the 50th death anniversary of the most outstanding Polish composer Grażyna Bacewicz. During the concert, the musicians under the baton of Fuada Ibrahimova will perform her Overture for symphonic orchestra. This vivid miniature was written in 1944, and its first performance took place a year later, at the first post-war Festival of Polish Contemporary Music in Krakow.
To get to know the fate of these three composers, the organizers invite you one hour before the concert to the meeting with special guests. Andrei Ustinov, an outstanding musicologist and promoter of Weinberg's work in Russia, and Joanna Sendłak, writer and granddaughter of Grażyna Bacewicz, will talk about their memories related to the composers. The meeting will be led by Aleksander Laskowski.
Media patronage: Polish Music Information Centre POLMIC.
More information at: www.sinfoniavarsovia.org