On the weekend before Christmas, 20 December 2019 at 7 p.m., the Warsaw Philharmonic invites music aficionados to spend a Franco-Polish evening at the Philharmonic with Agata Zubel as a soloist.
The first part of the concert will be devoted to George Bizet’s Symphony in C Major. Written while Bizet was still a teenager, the work abounds in youthful verve and melodic invention. When he penned the piece, it was still difficult for the future author of Carmen to free himself from the influence of his master Charles Gounod, and hence of its classical character. Perhaps Bizet was aware of this fact and therefore did not think much of his Symphony. The score had to wait for almost eighty years before finally seeing the light of day in the 1930s.
The works designed to put us in a Christmas mood will be Karol Szymanowski’s intent Litany to the Virgin Mary and a selection of the most exquisite Polish carols arranged by Witold Lutosławski. Both works, despite representing completely different musical idioms, convey a particular simplicity and refinement. It is also worth adding that Lutosławski did not create merely functional arrangements of popular Christmas songs. By employing his typical composing techniques, he treated well-known carols in quite an original way, thereby bestowing upon them a fresh formula.
The works will be performed by the National Philharmonic Orchestra and the National Philharmonic Women's Choir conducted by Ludovic Morlot.
The concert is held under the patronage of the PWM Edition as part of the TUTTI.pl project promoting the performances of Polish music.
Piotr Maculewicz
More information at: http://www.filharmonia.pl/