For over half a century, the Music Festival in Bydgoszcz has closely adhered to its stated aim of promoting Polish music and featuring the greatest artists of the present day. Throughout its existence, the Festival’s concerts presented a wide spectrum of repertoire from the early music to contemporary works.
This year, the Festival will be held in various venues in Bydgoszcz and Toruń between September 12 and October 4. The programming will feature two great names in Polish music of the 19th and early 20th century—Fryderyk Chopin, a quintessence of Polish spirit in music and Ignacy Jan Paderewski, a great piano virtuoso and composer as well as an exemplary patriot who fought for Poland’s independence after World War I.
Other composers whose works will be presented in concert include Henryk Mikołaj Górecki, one of the most original composers of our times, and Krzysztof Penderecki, who continues to redefine the image of Polish contemporary music. In addition, works by Mieczysław Karłowicz, Wojciech Kilar, Witold Lutosławski, Piotr Perkowski, Kontanty Regamey, Karol Szymanowski, and Alexandre Tansman will be heard alongside compositions by such living artists as Mikołaj Górecki and Marta Ptaszyńska. The performers for this year’s Festival include Jerzy Maksymiuk who will lead the Bydgoszcz Philharmonic Orchestra and Krzysztof Penderecki leading the National Philharmonic Chorus, Alexander Liebreich with the Katowice-based National Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra, pianists Dmitry Masleev (winner of the First Prize at the 2015 Tchaikovsky Piano Competition), Julia Kociuban, and Andrzej Wierciński, as well as the Apollon Musagète Quartet, Motion Trio Ensemble, and many others.
The Festival opened on September 12 with the performance of Paderewski’s massive “Polonia” Symphony at the Pomeranian Philharmonic Hall in Bydgoszcz and will close on October 4 with the performance of Handel’s Messiah.
[Source: filharmonia.bydgoszcz.pl]