The Passion Month

This Saturday and Sunday, Krzysztof Penderecki will conduct concerts with his St Luke Passion. The concerts will be conducted by the Maestro in Dresden with the participation of the Dresden Philharmonic Orchestra, the Philharmonic Children's Choir, the MDR Rundfunkchoir Leipzig and soloists Sandra Trattnigg (soprano), Thomas Bauer (baritone), Tomasz Konieczny (bass-baritone) and Ahmad Mesgarha (narrator).
St Luke Passion (Passio et Mors Domini Nostri Jesu Christi secundum Lucam), written during 1963-1965, was commissioned by the German Westdeutscher Rundfunk to mark the 700 years of the Münster Cathedral, in which the work was premiered on 30 March 1966 under the baton of Henryk Czyż. The work, dedicated to wife Elżbieta, is written for boys’ choir, three mixed choirs, three solo voices (soprano, baritone and bass), narrator and large symphony orchestra. The composer uses the Gospel According to St Luke in Latin and other sources such as Lenten hymns, Psalms and threnodies.
Another performance of this outstanding work will take place at the 15th Ludwig van Beethoven Easter Festival on 22 April at the Warsaw Philharmonic Hall. The Sinfonia Varsovia orchestra will be conducted by Krzysztof Penderecki, with Choirs of the Warsaw Philharmonic, Podlasie Opera and Philharmonic, “Dumka” Choir of Kiev and Warsaw Boys’ Choir. Solo parts will be sung by Iwona Hossa, Thomas Bauer and Tomasz Konieczny, with Krzysztof Gosztyła as the narrator. The concert will be recorded by Polish Television and shown during Easter.