30 Years of Sinfonia Varsovia – Jubilee Concert

To mark its 30th anniversary, the Sinfonia Varsovia Orchestra will give a celebratory concert at the Wielki Theatre – Polish National Opera on Sunday, 11 May. The orchestra will be led by the excellent violinist and conductor Andres Mustonen.
The two-part programme of the concert was designed to reflect the changes that have taken place in the orchestra since its inception. Because Sinfonia Varsovia developed from the Polish Chamber Orchestra, the strings will perform the first part of the concert: Panufnik’s Old Polish Site for string orchestra, Vivaldi’s Sinfonia in G major RV 146, Penderecki’s Sinfonietta per archi and Bach’s Violin Concerto in A minor BWV 1041. Andres Mustonen will perform as a soloist and conductor.
In 1984, at the invitation of Waldemar Dąbrowski, managing director of the Studio Centre for the Arts in Warsaw, and Franciszek Wybrańczyk, director of the Polish Chamber Orchestra that had worked as part of the Centre, the legendary violinist Yehudi Menuhin arrived in Poland to perform as a soloist and conductor. In order to meet the exigencies of the repertoire, the orchestra invited renowned musicians from all over Poland to take part in the performances. The ensemble’s first concerts conducted by Yehudi Menuhin were received enthusiastically by audiences and critics, and Menuhin accepted, without hesitation, an invitation from director Waldemar Dąbrowski and Franciszek Wybrańczyk to become the first guest conductor of the newly established symphony orchestra, which took the name Sinfonia Varsovia.
This period in the history of Sinfonia Varsovia is reflected by the classical programme of the second part of the jubilee gala: Beethoven’s Symphony No. 2 and Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante in E flat major with soloists Arkadiusz Krupa (oboe), Aleksander Romański (clarinet), Zbigniew Płużek (bassoon), and Tomasz Bińkowski (French horn).
Krzysztof Penderecki has been the Artistic Director of Sinfonia Varsovia since 2003 (and was the orchestra’s Music Director during 1997-2003). The musicians give concerts together in Poland and abroad, and the ensemble has many of the composer’s works in their repertoire. Krzysztof Penderecki recorded several albums with the orchestra, including those with his own works. In January 2011, Sinfonia Varsovia premiered Krzysztof Penderecki’s A Sea of Dreams Did Breathe On Me…, and in November 2013 performed concerts taking place as part of the Krzysztof Penderecki Festival, which marked the composer’s 80th birthday. Regrettably, Krzysztof Penderecki will not take part in the concert for health reasons.

Tickets:
www.teatrwielki.pl