The Jerzy Semkow Polish Sinfonia Iuventus Orchestra wants to pay tribute to Witold Lutosławski on the 25th anniversary of his death with a concert featuring two of his pieces from different periods of his life on 10 October 2019 at 7 p.m. in the Witold Lutosławski Concert Studio of Polish Radio.
Witold Lutosławski is one of the most outstanding Warsaw-based composers of the 20th century. He was born in 1913 in the heart of the city, in Moniuszki Street (next to the Philharmonic), and lived in Marszałkowska Street, Langiewicza Street, Zwycięzców Street, and, finally, in a villa in the district of Żoliborz, in Śmiała Street. Graduate of Warsaw schools, University student, graduate of the Conservatory. In Warsaw, he used to perform at secret concerts during the occupation, took an active part in the reconstruction of musical life after the war, was a prominent figure at the prestigious “Warsaw Autumn” festival, and when he gained international fame, he hosted concerts of his own pieces, performed by the finest soloists. Warsaw is where he died (1994) and was buried. His body lies at the Powązki cemetery.
The programme will include the Small Suite from the beginning of the 1950s, when the composer successfully attempted at keeping his creative autonomy against the expectations of Communist authorities, creating music that was frequently based on “folk motifs”, but still retained the highest artistic level, and the late Piano Concerto, which combined all of the elements of Lutosławski’s technique with profound and extremely communicative expression. It should be emphasized that the soloist of the Concerto, internationally recognised Paweł Kowalski, is the first (after Krystian Zimmerman) performer of the piece, which he presented in 1989 in Warsaw, under the composer’s baton, and performed with great success a number of times later in Poland and abroad. The audience will also listen to Igor Stravinsky's The Firebird suite. The concert will be hosted by Marek Wroniszewski.
Piotr Maculewicz
Media patronage: Polish Music Information Centre POLMIC.
More information at: https://sinfoniaiuventus.pl/