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Symphony in E-minor, Op. 16 by Grzegorz Fitelberg is the latest world phonographic premiere by Poznań Philharmonic Orchestra. Made on 6 October 2023 during a concert at A. Mickiewicz University Auditorium, recording of the piece conducted by Łukasz Borowicz has been released as CD and LP.
This is what Łukasz Borowicz writes about Grzegorz Fitelberg and his symphony:
“Grzegorz Fitelberg was a person of many parts: an illustrious conductor, tireless promoter of his contemporaries’ art, and one of the pillars of the Młoda Polska, or Young Poland movement in music. (…) Written in 1904, Symphony in E minor, op. 16 premiered at the Warsaw Philharmonic in 1907. For decades, however, the piece was to languish in obscurity. (…) [its] modern-day record premiere closes an undeniably serious gap in Polish phonography. It is also a reminder that Fitelberg’s piece constitutes a very important link in the process of development of Polish symphonic music; together with early works by Mieczysław Karłowicz and Karol Szymanowski, it provides a meaningful contribution to its overall picture.”
The recording has been published not only as CD, but also as collector’s limited-edition vinyl LP. CDs and LPs will be sold at special promotional prices in University Auditorium hall prior to and during intervals in philharmonic concerts held between 15 December 2023 and 5 January 2024.
CD “Grzegorz Fitelberg, Symphony in E-minor, Op. 16” is also available from Poznań-based Pasja music bookstore.
With financial assistance from Culture Promotion Fund, state earmarked fund of the Minister of Culture and National Heritage, under “Musical Trace” programme operated by National Institute for Music and Dance.
– For the first time, you performed at the Poznań Philharmonic in 2021, and instantly won the hearts of Poznań audiences. Now, you are returning as artist-in-residence. What does this residence mean to you?
– It means the absolute joy and privilege of meeting wonderful Poznan Philharmonic musicians and audience more frequently this year. This will allow me to establish meaningful connections and get to know them better. I appreciate the chance given to me by the Poznan Philharmonic, especially in these challenging times.
– During the concert “A Star Before Christmas” you are going to play the Concerto for Cello and Wind Orchestra by Friedrich Gulda. It is also with this concerto that in May next year you and our orchestra are going to the Gdansk Music Festival. Is the piece a favourite of yours?
– It’s not a typical cello concerto, which is what I especially love about it. It challenges me to break free from the classical musician frame and embrace the almost pop-rock style of music.
– You have a rich repertoire; which cello compositions are closest to your heart?
– Those that are moving me, resonating in my soul and imagination. It is only when I feel a personal connection to the piece that it is possible for me to try to light up similar emotions in the audience’s hearts.
– Today’s concert is held at a very special time in Poland–just a week away from Christmas, the most important, family-oriented Polish holiday. Where are you going to spend this year’s Christmas and the New Years’?
– It is such a magical time of the year, filled with a sense of anticipation for the new and unknown, and the hope for something extraordinary to happen. Even as a grown-up, I still hold onto the belief that the New Year will bring positive changes. I will be spending the holidays in Germany, which has been my home for the past 11 years.
– Today, you are a citizen of the world. It is with pleasure that I watch pictures and listen to recordings of rehearsals and concerts on the Instagram and on your webpage. Among all those colourful photographs, however, I have also found a black square annotated: 1 year. Thousands of broken and taken lives… What brought this war apart of horror, death and pain to so many people who pay the bill for the ego games of those who have power? I hope this day, the day of peace for Ukraine and Ukrainians, is coming now. This terror must end.
It takes a lot of moral courage to make such an entry…
– If only I could change this situation…it’s a horrible feeling to be a powerless spectator of this massacre and not be able to be of any help, unless only on a very local, private level. I can only hope that the New Year will bring peace to Ukraine and Ukrainians and, together with it, to all people who are suffering from injustice and violence. Humanity went so far in progressing on all levels except the very basic, fundamental one of treating each other with respect.
Interviewer:
Anna Plenzler
Ludwig van Beethoven Association celebrates its 20th anniversary. To mark the occasion, a gala was held at the Senate Hall of Wawel Royal Castle in Krakow on Monday evening (11 December). Its programme featured a performance by Polish Radio Choir in Lusławice conducted by Maciej Tworek, and a piano recital by Łukasz Krupiński.
During the ceremony, in recognition of the services rendered for the promotion of classical music, by decision of the President of the Republic of Poland, Elżbieta Penderecka, Chair of the Board of Ludwig van Beethoven Association, and General Manager of Ludwig van Beethoven Easter Festival, was presented with the Commander’s Cross with Star of the Order of Polonia Restituta, while Andrzej Giza, Executive Manager of Ludwig van Beethoven Association, received the Knight’s Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta.
Partners of Ludwig van Beethoven Association were awarded commemorative diplomas. The list of twenty institutions (incl. the National Opera, Polish Radio National Symphony Orchestra, Krakow Philharmonic, or Beethoven Academy Orchestra) recognised by the Beethoven Association for particularly effective collaboration, also features the Poznań Philharmonic.
Will the album of Feliks Nowowiejski pieces bring the Poznań Philharmonic Orchestra another prestigious award?
In the spring of this year, the album featuring two concertos by Feliks Nowowiejski – the piano in C Minor, op. 60 (known as Slavic), and cello, op. 55 – recorded by Poznań Philharmonic Orchestra under Łukasz Borowicz with pianist Jacek Kortus and cellist Bartosz Koziak, was awarded the 2023 Fryderyk Prize.
Now, it has been nominated for the 2024 edition of one of the most prestigious musical awards in the world, the International Classical Music Awards (in the “Premiere Recordings” category).
World phonographic premiere, the album “Felix Nowowiejski, Piano Concerto in D Minor, Op. 60, Slavic, Cello Concerto op. 55” was published by DUX and co-funded by Culture Promotion Fund, an earmarked state fund of the Minister of Culture and National Heritage, under “The Musical Trace” programme operated by the National Institute for Music and Dance.
Nominated for the ICMA several times in the past, the PPO won the prestigious trophy in 2018 for the recording of Quo vadis also by Feliks Nowowiejski.
This year, the album of Nowowiejski’s concertos competes with 375 productions from around the world. The finalists will be announced on 11 December, while the winners – on 18 January 2024. The award ceremony and gala concert shall be held at the Palau de la Musica in Valencia on 12 April 2024.
Łukasz Borowicz, who led the orchestra during the recordings of Feliks Nowowiejski’s concertos, has received one more nomination for 2024 ICMA– for “Complete Symphonic Works Vol. 1 Bacewicz: Symphonies Nos. 3 & 4” recorded with WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln, and published by cpo.
Sincere congratulations to our ensemble’s Chief Conductor!
Wojciech Pawłowski, businessman, social activist, patron of culture, sponsor of cultural events, endower, philanthropist… the list aiming to cover the wide range of his professional, social and charitable activities was long. These were enumerated in the laudation delivered by Prof. Bogumił Nowicki (2005-2012 rector of the Academy of Music) at the ceremony of conferring doctorate honoris causa on Wojciech Pawłowski by Ignacy Jan Paderewski Academy of Music in Poznań.
Among Wojciech Pawłowski’s activities championing the cause of culture, Prof. Nowicki mentioned the VRP Fund, whose goal is to support, promote, and popularise advancement of culture, art, science and education; refurbishment of the Faras Gallery at the National Museum in Warsaw;
W. Pawłowski’s involvement in the development of Centre of Music in Poznań (where Poznań Philharmonic will find its seat), in the operation of Wydawnictwo Poznańskie (Poznań Publishing House), his assistance to young musicians in the form of grants and stipends, as well as his support for the Poznań Philharmonic, whose main backer he has remained for years. Prof. Nowicki also evoked a quote from Wojciech Pawłowski, who once said: Sharing the effects of my work is my life’s joy.
The newly-appointed honorary doctor’s lecture “Patronage: privilege or duty?” was delivered to enthusiastic reception.
Held at the Aula Nova, the ceremony of awarding honorary degree from Academy of Music in Poznań to Wojciech Pawłowski took place during inauguration of the school’s new academic year.
Gratitude for promotion of culture and involvement in operation of the Academy was also extended to Wojciech Pawłowski’s wife, Dorota.
Our sincere congratulations to Mr and Mrs Pawłowski!
A new artistic season brings not only new plans and challenges, but also anniversary recollections. Last year, we celebrated seventy-five years of the Poznań Philharmonic; this year marks the fifty-fifth anniversary of the young music-lover movement Pro Sinfonika, a phenomenon truly unique throughout the country.
It was about what’s in stock for music lovers in the new artistic season that Wojciech Nentwig (PP’s General Manager), Łukasz Borowicz (PP’s Music Director and Chief Conductor of Poznań Philharmonic Orchestra) and Marlena Gnatowicz (Artistic Manager of Pro Sinfonika) talked about at a press conference.
Although considerable attention was paid to tradition, merging it with new challenges was also addressed, for in the new season, music lovers will not only listen to works by great composers, but thanks to Poznań Philharmonic Orchestra – will also discover pieces forgotten or unknown.
Popular concert cycles will continue; these feature both artists that Poznań audiences are already familiar with, and new soloists, incl. artists-musicians of the PPO, of whom as many as twelve will perform this season in the capacity of soloists.
With the youngest music lovers in mind, new records and books have been released. It is also for them, as well as for their parents and grandparents (who may well have got familiar with music via Pro Sinfonika membership) that an anniversary concert will be held at A. Mickiewicz University Auditorium on Saturday, 7 October, at 11:00 a.m. The event features the premiere performance of “Vivat Pro Sinfonika!”, a piece composed by Krzysztof Meyer to mark the movement’s fifty-fifth anniversary.
Towards the end of the meeting, the journalists were in for a surprise when the pianist Yoav Levanon, the star of the upcoming two philharmonic concerts and the Pro Sinfonika’s anniversary event arrived at the conference en route from the airport.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
we wish to inform you that the box office of the Poznań Philharmonic opens on 4 September (A. Mickiewicz University Auditorium, 1, Wieniawskiego st., entrance hallway).
Opening hours in the 2023/2024 artistic season:
- September: Mon.-Fri. 1-5 p.m.,
- October-June: Tue.-Fri. 1-5 p.m.,
- concert days: box office opens one hour prior to concert and closes at end of intermission.
DL and SG season tickets booked can be purchased between 4 and 29 September.
KP season tickets booked can be purchased between 11 and 22 September.
MW season tickets booked can be purchased as of 25 September.
Holders of 2022-2023 season tickets are requested to carry these while purchasing 2023-2024 tickets.
Should a season ticket be lost, a duplicate issue charge of 50 PLN is applicable.
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Individual ticket reservations, as well as enquiries regarding new season can be made as by e-mail at: rezerwacje@filharmoniapoznanska.pl, or by phone at: (+48) 660 406 918, (+48) 660 405 813, (+48) 618-536-935.
In September, our staff are also available in University Auditorium hallway at box office opening times.
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Ticket sales commence on 18 September 2023 at box office of Poznań Philharmonic, at Centrum Informacji Kulturalnej (Cultural Information Centre, 44, Ratajczaka st.); for online sales, go to bilety24.pl.
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Poznań Philharmonic reserves the right to change the above schedule of season and individual ticket sales, as well as to alter the concert calendar.
Archival records and photography… Two areas to interlace throughout his life. Both are specific forms of preserving the past – in documents and in the picture frame…
In his professional life, Tadeusz Boniecki looks after the archives of the Poznań-based Philharmonic and Opera House. At the Wieniawski Society, he put in order not only the composer and musician’s legacy, but also the archive of the Wieniawski competitions. At Poznań Philharmonic, besides systemizing archival records, he also compiled a list of first concert performances (close to five hundred!) since the establishment of our institution in 1947, as well as this of all domestic and international tours made by The Poznań Nightingales choir.
In his private life, he never parts with the camera. A few years ago, an exhibition at the Raczyński Library featured his pictures to chronicle various aspects of life in Poznań at the turn of the 20th and 21st centuries. This exciting historical documentation was, however, just a fragment of a batch of over thirteen thousand photographs taken by Tadeusz Boniecki between 1981 and 2022, and now handed over to become part of the Raczyński Library’s collection.
The main building of the Raczyński Library plays now host to another exhibition, “Teatr w fotografii Tadeusza Bonieckiego” (Theatre In Tadeusz Boniecki’s Photographs). A choice of almost four hundred images (selected from a body of fifteen hundred photographs) taken in recent years at theatre performances staged by professional and amateur companies at theatrical venues and elsewhere. Each picture is meticulously described with the date, title of performance, and name of the company. And each commands viewer’s attention. Actors’ emotions, dramatic quality of particular scenes, beauty of artistic arrangement… It is hard to pass them by unresponsively. Sometimes we even get the impression that dancers are going to emerge from the picture to perform in front of us, that actors are going to address us not only with the gesture visible in the photograph, but also with the word… For what binds these images is just that: artists’ emotions.
“I love theatre,” says Tadeusz Boniecki. “And this is the reason why theatre photographs are closest to my heart. Of course, when you focus on photographing a performance, you always miss out on some of it. That’s why I sometimes go to see a performance twice…
“Teatr w fotografii Tadeusza Bonieckiego” exhibition is open till end of August. Main building of Raczyński Library; entrance free.
1. Box office of Poznan Philharmonic reopens after summer break on 4 September 2023.
Schedule of operation in 2023/2024 artistic season:
- September: Mon.-Fri. 1-5 p.m.,
- October-June: Tue.-Fri. 1-5 p.m.,
- concert days: box office opens one hour prior to concert and closes at end of intermission.
2. DL and SG season tickets reserved can be purchased as at 4 September.
3. KP season tickets reserved can be purchased as at 11 September.
4. MW season tickets reserved can be purchased as at 25 September.
5. Holders of 2022-2023 electronic tickets are requested to carry these while purchasing 2023-2024 tickets.
6. Should a season ticket be lost, a duplicate issue charge of 50 PLN is applicable.
7. Individual ticket reservations, as well as enquiries regarding new season can be made as at 5 September by e-mail: rezerwacje@filharmoniapoznanska.pl, or by phone: (+48) 618-536-935 or (+48) 618-522-266. In September our staff are also available in University Auditorium hallway at box office opening times. However, with regard to reservations only, you are requested to contact us remotely.
7. Poznań Philharmonic reserves the right to change the above schedule of season and individual ticket sales, as well as to alter the concert calendar.
The record containing two concertos by Feliks Nowowiejski – the Piano Concerto in C Minor, Op. 60 (Slavic), and Cello Concerto, Op. 55 – recorded by the Poznań Philharmonic Orchestra under Łukasz Borowicz with the pianist Jacek Kortus and cellist Bartosz Koziak, has been awarded the 2023 Fryderyk Prize in the Best Symphonic and Concerto Music Album category.
The album is the world phonographic premiere; although performing tradition does exist, to date the works have been presented a handful of times only.
Łukasz Borowicz, who took the effort of preparing and recording the pieces with the Poznań Philharmonic Orchestra, writes in the album booklet: … the concertos’ orchestra material has been thoroughly analysed and compared against the manuscripts which miraculously survived war-time desolation. These comparisons made it possible to fine-tune instrumentation, tempo, and articulation details.
Released by DUX, the album “Felix Nowowiejski, Piano Concerto in D Minor, Op. 60, Slavic, Cello Concerto, Op. 55” has been co-funded by the Minister of Culture and National Heritage with resources from the state earmarked Culture Promotion Fund, as part of the “Musical Trace” programme operated by the National Institute of Music and Dance.