The Krzysztof Penderecki Festival – chamber for a start

Just over 24 hours separate us from the start of the jubilee Krzysztof Penderecki Festival in Warsaw. Organized on the occasion of the composer’s 80th birthday, the celebration of contemporary music will be honored by the presence of world-renowned artists.
The festival will begin in a very intimate atmosphere. In the program of the inaugural concert we will hear maestro Penderecki’s chamber works: 3 Miniatures for Clarinet and Piano, String Quintet, Suite for Cello Solo and Sextet for Clarinet, Horn, String Trio and Piano. A real firework will be the cast of this concert, as some of the most outstanding artists from Poland and abroad have been invited to take part. Miniatures for Clarinet and Piano will be performed by the duo Darko Brlek (clarinet) and Marek Bracha (piano), we will hear String Quintet in the interpretation of the fantastic Dafô String Quartet with Jerzy Dybała (double-bass) and Suite for Cello Solo presented by Danjulo Ishizaka.
Yet, one of the biggest heroes of the evening will be the Russian viola virtuoso, or rather, the world king of this instrument – Yuri Bashmet. Playing on a historical instrument by Paolo Testore from 1758 the artist has given concerts with Światosław Richter, Mścisław Rostropowicz, Gidon Kremer. For the last 20 years he has also been directing, as conductor, the chamber orchestra Moscow Soloists. Over 50 composers dedicated his works to him, among whom were such outstanding authors as Alfred Schnittke, Sofia Gubajdulina, Gija Kanczeli, John Tavener or Poul Ruders. This year Krzysztof Penderecki composed a waltz for viola solo on the occasion of Bashmet’s 60th birthday. Will we hear the composition at the festival inauguration? It is not in the official program, but who knows what the stars of the evening will regale us with.
In the performance of the Sextet Bashmet will be accompanied by: Michel Lethiec – clarinet, André Cazalet – French horn, Julian Rachlin – violin, Maja Bogdanovic – cello and the extraordinary Irish pianist Barry Douglas.

The concert inaugurating The Krzysztof Penderecki Festival will take place at the Royal Castle in Warsaw, on 17th November at 6 p.m.