Concerto of Song Offerings for piano solo, choir and orchestra is the title of Eugeniusz Knapik‘s new work, which the composer is preparing for the grand opening of the new home of the National Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra (NOSPR) in Katowice. The premiere of this piece was recently announced for the October 1st opening gala, and will be performed by world renowned Polish pianist Krystian Zimerman.
The work uses two verses by Rabindranath Tagore in the English original from the book of poems called Song Offerings.
When asked what else Krystian Zimerman, to whom Eugeniusz Knapik dedicated his concerto, will perform at the opening of the new hall of the NOSPR, prof. Joanna Wnuk-Nazarowa, NOSPR’s director, answered:
Let him play what he wants. The opening ceremony will have three parts with two breaks. If it will be necessary to have a fourth, we will. When the National Philharmonic opened in 1901 in Warsaw, there were also two breaks and three parts and at the end Paderewski played as much Chopin as he wanted. He finished at midnight. Taking the model of the Warsaw Philharmonic, for us we will have no time limit.
Other works that are known to be on the program are a celebration of the new and the old, including:
Witold Lutosławski – Tryptyk śląski, Krzysztof Penderecki – Przebudzenie Jakuba, Wojciech Kilar – Siwa mgła, Henryk Mikołaj Górecki –Trzy tańce, Johannes Brahms – Piano Concerto No. 1, and Ludwig van Beethoven – Symphony No. 9. Zimerman will be joined on stage by NOSPR as well as the Chór Radia Bawarskiego, Ewa Tracz – soprano, Wiesław Ochman – tenor, Luba Orgonášová – soprano, Anna Lubańska – mezzosoprano, Christian Elsner – tenor, and Dimitry Ivashchenko – bass, led by maestro Alexander Liebreich.
October 1, 2014 | 6:00 p.m.
Grand Opening of NOSPR’s New Hall & Knapik Premiere by Krystian Zimerman
Plac Sejmu Śląskiego 2
40-032 Katowice
Tickets: only available as a subscription package, see nowa.nospr.org.pl
[Sources: pwm.com.pl, nowa.nospr.org.pl]