Hundred years is not enough, 22 November 2013
Two great soloists, two great conductors and a brilliant orchestra in the works of former avant-garde and the jubilarian’s newest compositions – behind us the penultimate concert of The Krzysztof Penderecki Festival
Another festival evening at the Warsaw Philharmonic turned out to be an evening of masterful performances. It would be very hard to create any hierarchy, because each of the artists invited to this concert (as well as the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra in Katowice) could be hailed its greatest hero. Concerto for Horn and Orchestra "Winterreise" sounded beautifully, mainly due to the excellent soloist, Croatian horn player Radovan Vlatković, to whom Krzysztof Penderecki dedicated this work. Vlatkovic is an artist who not only perfectly understands and reads the ideas of modern music, but, in this extremely demanding, expressive composition, is able to sneak in also a little bit of serenity. There is therefore a sharpness in the sound of his horn, a dynamic, but also a bit of humor and joke, all played with perfection, without a hint of understatement or hesitation. After such a great performance Radovan Vlatkovic was called back to the stage by the delighted audience numerous times, and finally decided to play an encore (another masterful performance - this time the Capriccio). Wishing on this occasion Krzysztof Penderecki all the best, Vlatkovic stressed that the musicians are very fortunate to being able to work with and "have such a great composer", which is why he said that "to wish the Professor a hundred years, is not enough!”
The program included also the avant-garde piece De Natura Sonoris II, in an excellent interpretation of the American conductor Leonard Slatkin and the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra in Katowice, which opened the evening, and the Violin Concerto with Konstanty Andrzej Kulka as soloist and Gabriel Chmura leading the orchestra. The premiere of the Violin Concerto was performed in 1977 by the phenomenal Isaak Stern. Just after Stern, the first person to perform this work was Kulka himself, who later played it numerous times in Europe and around the world. It has been almost 40 years since those times, but in the play of our violin virtuoso we could hear that Penderecki’s composition is still very important in his musical life, and its expressive sounds are almost flowing in the artist’s veins. Such was also his yesterday's interpretation of the Concerto - emotional, passionate, personal. Kulka was superbly assisted in building the mood by the Katowice Orchestra, which proved, not the first time, that it is not only an excellent symphonic ensemble, but a group of artists who can also paint phrases full of mood and subtlety.
Friday evening was closed by the Kaddish. An exceptional work, because written in 2009, on the occasion of the 65th anniversary of the liquidation of the Lodz ghetto. Penderecki actually admitted, that writing this composition-prayer he recalled his long-standing friendship with a late Polish Jew born in eastern Galicia, who tried to convince him to write a Kaddish. “He then sang to me different kaddishes, which he knew from his grandfather. And so I drew on what I heard from him, when writing my work.” At the Warsaw Philharmonic the work was performed by the Silesian orchestra conducted by Gabriel Chmura, while in the solo parts shone Olga Pasiecznik with a beautiful soprano and, singing the Jewish prayers with emotions, Alberto Mizrahi.
But this was not the end of meetings with Penderecki’s music on this day. In the afternoon, at the Chamber Hall of Warsaw Philharmonic (5 p.m.) appeared the Radom Chamber Orchestra under the baton of Maciej Żółtowski and a cello octet created especially for the occasion of the Festival, under the direction of the great cello master - Ivan Monighetti and composed of: Arto Noras, Daniel Müller-Schott, Magdalena Bojanowicz, Bartosz Koziak, Karolina Jaroszewska, Marcin Zdunik, Tomasz Daroch and Marta Kordykiewicz. The artists enchanted with their performance of Agnus Dei in the version for 8 cellos, adapted by Boris Pergamenschikow - the late world-renowned master of the cello. Also Radom Chamber Orchestra delighted with fantastic ensemble and a beautiful chamber sound, especially in the performance of Sinfonietta No. 3 and Viola Concerto (version for cello) with Rafał Kwiatkowski as soloist.
Tomasz Handzlik
Another festival evening at the Warsaw Philharmonic turned out to be an evening of masterful performances. It would be very hard to create any hierarchy, because each of the artists invited to this concert (as well as the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra in Katowice) could be hailed its greatest hero. Concerto for Horn and Orchestra "Winterreise" sounded beautifully, mainly due to the excellent soloist, Croatian horn player Radovan Vlatković, to whom Krzysztof Penderecki dedicated this work. Vlatkovic is an artist who not only perfectly understands and reads the ideas of modern music, but, in this extremely demanding, expressive composition, is able to sneak in also a little bit of serenity. There is therefore a sharpness in the sound of his horn, a dynamic, but also a bit of humor and joke, all played with perfection, without a hint of understatement or hesitation. After such a great performance Radovan Vlatkovic was called back to the stage by the delighted audience numerous times, and finally decided to play an encore (another masterful performance - this time the Capriccio). Wishing on this occasion Krzysztof Penderecki all the best, Vlatkovic stressed that the musicians are very fortunate to being able to work with and "have such a great composer", which is why he said that "to wish the Professor a hundred years, is not enough!”
The program included also the avant-garde piece De Natura Sonoris II, in an excellent interpretation of the American conductor Leonard Slatkin and the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra in Katowice, which opened the evening, and the Violin Concerto with Konstanty Andrzej Kulka as soloist and Gabriel Chmura leading the orchestra. The premiere of the Violin Concerto was performed in 1977 by the phenomenal Isaak Stern. Just after Stern, the first person to perform this work was Kulka himself, who later played it numerous times in Europe and around the world. It has been almost 40 years since those times, but in the play of our violin virtuoso we could hear that Penderecki’s composition is still very important in his musical life, and its expressive sounds are almost flowing in the artist’s veins. Such was also his yesterday's interpretation of the Concerto - emotional, passionate, personal. Kulka was superbly assisted in building the mood by the Katowice Orchestra, which proved, not the first time, that it is not only an excellent symphonic ensemble, but a group of artists who can also paint phrases full of mood and subtlety.
Friday evening was closed by the Kaddish. An exceptional work, because written in 2009, on the occasion of the 65th anniversary of the liquidation of the Lodz ghetto. Penderecki actually admitted, that writing this composition-prayer he recalled his long-standing friendship with a late Polish Jew born in eastern Galicia, who tried to convince him to write a Kaddish. “He then sang to me different kaddishes, which he knew from his grandfather. And so I drew on what I heard from him, when writing my work.” At the Warsaw Philharmonic the work was performed by the Silesian orchestra conducted by Gabriel Chmura, while in the solo parts shone Olga Pasiecznik with a beautiful soprano and, singing the Jewish prayers with emotions, Alberto Mizrahi.
But this was not the end of meetings with Penderecki’s music on this day. In the afternoon, at the Chamber Hall of Warsaw Philharmonic (5 p.m.) appeared the Radom Chamber Orchestra under the baton of Maciej Żółtowski and a cello octet created especially for the occasion of the Festival, under the direction of the great cello master - Ivan Monighetti and composed of: Arto Noras, Daniel Müller-Schott, Magdalena Bojanowicz, Bartosz Koziak, Karolina Jaroszewska, Marcin Zdunik, Tomasz Daroch and Marta Kordykiewicz. The artists enchanted with their performance of Agnus Dei in the version for 8 cellos, adapted by Boris Pergamenschikow - the late world-renowned master of the cello. Also Radom Chamber Orchestra delighted with fantastic ensemble and a beautiful chamber sound, especially in the performance of Sinfonietta No. 3 and Viola Concerto (version for cello) with Rafał Kwiatkowski as soloist.
Tomasz Handzlik
