Faniska – another world phonographic premiere of Poznan Philharmonic Orchestra
We can joke that this year Easter fell in… October, as it was then that due to the pandemic the Ludwig van Beethoven Easter Festival, scheduled for April, was held. Traditionally it included a concert dedicated to forgotten opera works, the spiritus movens of which was Łukasz Borowicz, our Chief Guest Conductor.
Also traditionally one of the cycle’s performers was Poznan Philharmonic Orchestra. This time at the National Philharmonic in Warsaw (on the 20th of October) “Faniska” by Luigi Cherubini was heard. You can now listen to this work in its full version on albums. The double CD “Luigi Cherubini, Faniska” has just been released by the DUX label.
The opera (with the libretto by Joseph Sonnleithner) was commissioned by the directorship of Hofoper in Vienna in April of 1805. The premiere performance took place in the Viennese Kärntnertortheater on the 25th of February 1806 in the presence of the emperor Franz II. The work fascinated Ludwig van Beethoven so much, that he decided to compose an opera. And he wrote one: “Fidelio”.
The action of “Faniska” takes place in Poland, in one of the castles of magnates in the area of Sandomierz. Both characters, Zamoski and Rasinski, are the estranged rulers of the adjacent voivodeships. The main plot concerns the efforts to free Faniska, the wife of Rasinski, who is being imprisoned by Zamoski in the dungeons his castle. The story finishes with a happy end.
The album was recorded with the participation of Natalia Rubiś (soprano), Krystian Adam Krzeszowiak (tenor), Katarzyna Belkius (soprano), Robert Gierlach (basso-baritone), Tomasz Rak (baritone), Justyna Ołów (mezzosoprano), Piotr Kalina (tenor), Poznan Chamber Choir (prepared by Bartosz Michałowski) and Poznan Philharmonic Orchestra. The whole ensemble was led by Łukasz Borowicz.
The album, which is another world phonographic premiere in the discography of Poznan Philharmonic Orchestra, has just been released – you can purchase it in good music stores.
Among numerous music anniversaries celebrated this year there is also the 170th birthday anniversary of Franz Xaver Scharwenka, the hero of our next Internet Concert held on Friday, the 4th of December at 7 p.m.
Franz Xaver Scharwenka was born in a Polish-German family in Szamotuły, where he spent the first several years of his life. Here he had taken his first steps in music. At the age of nine the family of Scharwenka moved to Poznan, and six years later – to Berlin, where Franz Xaver graduated from gymnasium and began his musical studies. He inscribed his name in history not only as an excellent composer and pianist, but also as an organizer of musical life and pedagogue. In 1881 he founded the Conservatory in Berlin and in the years of 1891-1898 he ran the Scharwenka Music School in New York City. He was so respected in America that when he composed his only opera “Mataswintha” it was staged in the Metropolitan Opera in New York. He was also the author of “Methodik des Klavierspiels”, published in Leipzig in 1907. He was friends with Franz Liszt and was highly valued by Johannes Brahms.
In Poland he has been rediscovered for some time now and Poznan Philharmonic has a share in it by including his musical pieces in the repertoire (as well as by recording an album of his works, published in 2011 by Naxos).
Scharwenka completed his Symphony in C minor, Op. 60 in the beginning of 1882, however the premiere performance wasn’t held until almost two years later, on the 1st of December 1883 in Königlichen Akademie der Künste in Copenhagen. In “Signale für Musikalische Welt” one could read that “the work was generally appreciated. Particularly beautiful Scherzo and Adagio, while the first and the last movement movement are too lengthy and not really refined.” (Mikołaj Rykowski, The Polyphony of Life, 2018). Was the first review correct? Judge by yourselves.
PERFORMERS:
Łukasz BOROWICZ – conductor
Poznań Philharmonic Orchestra
PROGRAM:
- Franz Xaver Scharwenka, Symphony in C Minor, Op. 60
Andante — Allegro non troppo
Allegro molto quasi presto
Adagio
Allegro molto quasi presto — Adagio — Tempo I — Allegro molto
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Co-funded by the Minister of Culture and National Heritage as part of “Muzyka” programme managed by Institute of Music and Dance. Resources provided by Culture Promotion Fund from surcharges imposed on state-monopoly games under art. 80, par. 1 of the Gambling Activities Act of 19 November 2009.
Partner:
In relation to the epidemiological situation and the government’s decision to close cultural institutions until at least the 27th of December we would like to inform that the concerts of Poznan Philharmonic will be broadcast on the Internet till that time. We invite you to Internet Concert every Friday at 7 p.m.
During the forthcoming concerts we will present you works by Roman Statkowski and Michał Bergson (27th of November), as well as Franz Xaver Scharwenka (4th of December). For more detailed information about these and subsequent concerts please check our website and Facebook profile.
It can be said that the next Internet Concert scheduled for Friday the 27th of November is a… double jubilee concert. In 2020 we celebrate the 95th death anniversary of Roman Statkowski, coming from Szczypiorno near Kalisz, and the 200th birthday anniversary of Michał Bergson.
Roman Statkowski composed the two-act opera “Filenis”, based on a libretto inspired by Herman Erler’s drama, in 1987. The work had to wait seven years for the Warsaw premiere. It was not staged until a year after an international success in 1903, when the piece won the 1st prize at an international competition in London. “Filenis”, as well as the second opera of the composer, “Maria” (based on the same-titled poetic novel by Antoni Malczewski) are among the most outstanding artistic achievements of Roman Statkowski.
By that concert we would like to present you the figure of Michał Bergson, a Polish composer of Jewish origin. The Bergson family, which included numerous eminent merchants and bankers, had played a significant role in creating the city of Warsaw for several generations. Incorporating the music of Michał Bergson in the concert’s repertoire was directly inspired by the discovery of the manuscript of “Concerto symphonique pour piano avec orchestre”, Op. 62 in a London antiquarian bookshop and its purchase by the Poznan Philharmonic. The finder was Jonathan Plowright, an excellent British pianist, who will perform the concert and who, along with the Poznan Philharmonic Orchestra led by Łukasz Borowicz, recorded an album with Michał Bergson’s music. The CD, published by DUX label and titled “Michał Bergson, Concerto symphonique pour piano avec orchestre, Op. 62/ Music from the opera Luisa di Monfort” was released at the beginning of November and is another world premiere in the discography of Poznan Philharmonic Orchestra.
PERFORMERS:
JonathanPLOWRIGHT– piano
Łukasz BOROWICZ – conductor
Poznań Philharmonic Orchestra
PROGRAM:
- Roman Statkowski
Introduction to the opera Filenis - Michał Bergson
Concerto symphonique pour piano avec orchestre, Op. 62
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Co-funded by the Minister of Culture and National Heritage as part of “Muzyka” programme managed by Institute of Music and Dance. Resources provided by Culture Promotion Fund from surcharges imposed on state-monopoly games under art. 80, par. 1 of the Gambling Activities Act of 19 November 2009.
Partner:
Next Friday, on the 20th of November at 7 p.m. we invite you for another Internet Concert of Poznan Philharmonic.
This evening we will listen to The Poznan Nightingales at a concert commemorating the choir’s founder, Prof. Stefan Stuligrosz.
Stefan Stuligrosz was a conductor, composer, organist, lecturer at the Academy of Music in Poznan (he held the post of the rector of that institution for five years), chairman of the Henryk Wieniawski Musical Society. However, it was The Poznan Nightingales choir that he considered his magnum opus. He had spent several decades on creating the ensemble of a unique and always discernible artistic image.
Boy’s and Men’s Choir of the Poznan Philharmonic The Poznan Nightingales is a phenomenon in Poland in every way. The ensemble achieved international fame by singing in almost all European countries, as well as in the United States, Canada, South Korea and Japan, has been led by its founder, Prof. Stefan Stuligrosz, for 72 years. Even shortly before his death (let us remind you that Prof. Stefan Stuligrosz died on the 15th of June 2012 in Puszczykowo at the age of 92) the Scoutmaster, as the choirsingers have called him for decades, led rehearsals and conducted during the concerts.
On the 100th anniversary of Maestro’s birthday The Nightingales sang a concert dedicated to his memory. The program include works written by the Scoutmaster.
PERFORMERS:
The Poznań Nightingales Boys and Men’s Choir of the Poznań Philharmonic
Maciej BOLEWSKI – organ
Maciej WIELOCH – conductor
PROGRAM:
- Stefan Stuligrosz
Veni Creator
Angelus Domini – Ave Maria
O ziemio polska
Dobry Pasterzu
O Matko miłościwa
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Co-financed from funds of the National Cultural Centre under the program “Culture on the Net”.
It is the third time when an album recorded by Poznan Philharmonic Orchestra has been nominated for International Classical Music Awards (ICMA), one of the most prestigious phonographic awards in the world.
In January 2018 we celebrated receiving ICMA 2018. Poznan Philharmonic obtained it for the recording of Feliks Nowowiejski’s “Quo Vadis” Oratorio performed by the soloists (Wioletta Chodowicz, Robert Gierlach and Wojciech Gierlach), Podlasie Opera and Philharmonic Choir prepared by Violetta Bielecka and Poznan Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Łukasz Borowicz.
In the same year we got the nomination for ICMA 2019 for the recordings of Symphonies No. 2 and No. 3 by Feliks Nowowiejski played by Poznan Philharmonic Orchestra led by Łukasz Borowicz. Now another album of ours, “Stanislaw Moniuszko, Cantatas Milda/Nijola” has been nominated for ICMA 2021.
“Milda” and “Nijola” are scarcely currently known cantatas composed by Stanislaw Moniuszko. They are both inspired by Józef Ignacy Kraszewski’s poem “Witolorauda” and refer to Lithuanian mythology. Poznan Philharmonic Orchestra recorded them along with soloists: Wioletta Chodowicz (soprano), Maria Jaskulska-Chrenowicz (soprano), Ewa Wolak (mezzosoprano), Sylwester Smulczyński (tenor), Robert Gierlach (baritone), Szymon Kobyliński (bass) and Podlasie Opera and Philharmonic Choir prepared by Violetta Bielecka. The artists performed under the baton of Łukasz Borowicz. Double album, which was the world phonographic premiere, was published by DUX label.
The ICMA 2021 list of nominees contains 365 albums released by 122 record labels. The short list will be announced on the 15th of December, while the winners – on the 20th of January 2021. The prize giving ceremony will take place during a gala concert with the participation of Sinfonieorchester Liechtenstein led by Yaron Traub in Vaduz, Liechtenstein, on the 18th of April 2021.
This was his first gala concert in Poland. In the Poznan Philharmonic. Piotr Beczała sang on the 14th of April 2007 in AMU Concert Hall during the concert of the cycle “World Opera Stars” and… he enchanted everybody! Poznan Philharmonic Orchestra was conducted then by Łukasz Borowicz.
Today Piotr Beczała, world-renowned tenor and the brilliant conductor Łukasz Borowicz, Chief Guest Conductor of Poznan Philharmonic Orchestra are among the nominees for this year’s Public Media Award in the category of Music.
Before the results are announced late in the evening (10:45 p.m., Polish Radio Program I, TVP1 and TVP Polonia), at 7:30 p.m. on the air of Polish Radio Program II, in the framework of Poznan Philharmonic, there will be a rebroadcast of this unusual concert from years ago with the participation of both heroes. It will be an opportunity to bring back memories, as well as for new artistic thrills.
The concert of the Polish Radio Program II Philharmonic will be hosted by editor Róża Światczyńska.
After the concert we encourage you to check our Q&A cycle featuring Piotr Beczała, his wife Katarzyna Bąk-Beczała (here) and Łukasz Borowicz (here).
Tomorrow, on the 13th of November at 7 pm we invite you for the Internet Concert of Poznan Philharmonic. This time the Percussionists of Poznan Philharmonic Orchestra will present themselves to the music lovers in the foreground, in the full artistic display. Grzegorz Siek, Jerzy Mackiewicz, Beata Słomian and Piotr Sołkowicz prepared a special program which perfectly expose their abilities and the possibilities of the instruments they play.
During the concert the listeners would have an opportunity to discover the sound of the percussion instruments and the whole range of their potential. This time percussion instruments form a separate ensemble. In the presented works you will be able to hear lilting marimba themes, rich snare drum sounds, as well as sonoristic effects resulting from fusing the vibraphone with other instruments.
The Philharmonic musicians have chosen the works by contemporary authors: American percussionist, composer and pedagogue Mitch Markovich, German composers Berthold Hummel and Eckhard Kopetzki and a Canadian John Thrower, who dedicated his piece “Aurora Borealis” presented by our artists to Katarzyna Myćka, Polish (coming from the region of Greater Poland) marimba virtuoso.
PERFORMERS:
Poznan Philharmonic Percussionists Ensemble:
- Grzegorz SIEK
- Jerzy MACKIEWICZ
- Beata SŁOMIAN
- Piotr SOŁKOWICZ
PROGRAM:
- Mitch Markovich, Teamwork for Quartet
- Berthold Hummel, Fresken 70 (Fifth movement: Finale – konklusion)
- John Thrower, Aurora Borealis (movement “Starry Night”)
- Eckhard Kopetzki, Le chant du serpent
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Co-financed from funds of the National Cultural Centre under the program “Culture on the Net”.
The album’s origin slighty resembles the discovery of new worlds. One day Jonathan Plowright, a prominent British pianist, comes across the manuscript of Michał Bergson’s “Concerto symphonique pour piano avec orchestre”, Op. 62 in a London antiquarian bookshop. And as Polish music occupies a special place among numerous passions of the artist, his discovery intrigued Poznan Philharmonic with the Orchestra of which he performed a number of times. The Philharmonic purchased the script and decided to record the piano concerto, as well as enrich the album with other works by Michał Bergson. This way “Michał Bergson. Concerto symphonique pour piano avec orchestre, Op. 62 / Music from the Opera Luisa di Monfort” became the next world phonographic premiere in the discography of Poznan Philharmonic Orchestra.
Besides the titular Concerto symphonique the album comprises also Mazurkas (No. 1 and No. 4 from Op. 1 “Polonia! Mazurka pour piano”), Grand polonaise héroïque as well as the excerpts of the composer’s Opus Magnum: four-act opera “Luisa di Monfort” (introduction to the opera, scene and aria for solo clarinet and orchestra, Il Ritorno for soprano and orchestra).
The recordings by Jonathan Plowright (piano), Jakub Drygas (clarinet), Aleksandra Kubas-Kruk (soprano) and Poznan Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Łukasz Borowicz were done in the Aula of Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, the Concert Hall of Poznan Philharmonic.
The latest album of Poznan Philharmonic was released by DUX label and is available in good music stores and on www.dux.pl.
Due to the second pandemic wave and the actions undertaken to limit the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus the Government Crisis Management Team decided to close cultural institutions for the audience. The restrictions take effect from the 7th to the 29th of November 2020. For that reason Poznan Philharmonic suspends planned concerts till the 29th of November 2020.