The festival’s theme – “Beethoven and Penderecki. The Sphere of Sacrum” – defines the program of the concerts, which features both religious works and those that reflect the human spiritual dimension in its broadest sense. The festival highlights foremost Polish symphonic and choral ensembles as well as an array of renowned vocalists, including Natalia Rubiś, Iwona Hossa, Karolina Sikora, Anna Lubańska, Aleksandra Kubas-Kruk, Krystian Krzeszowiak, Mariusz Godlewski, Łukasz Konieczny, Tomasz Konieczny.
In the inaugural concert, Maestro Andrzej Boreyko and the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra performed Beethoven’s Mass in C major and two works by Krzysztof Penderecki: Adagietto from Paradise Lost and Agnus Dei from Polish Requiem; in the closing concert, he will conduct works by Penderecki, Pärt, Ravel, and Kanczeli (European premiere of Libera me).
Maestro Jerzy Maksymiuk and Sinfonia Varsovia presented an all-Beethoven repertoire. Symphony concerts performed by Polish ensembles such as the Polish Radio Orchestra in Warsaw conducted by Michał Klauza (works by Penderecki and Olivier Messiaen), Jerzy Semkow Polish Sinfonia Iuventus Orchestra under Dawid Runtz (works by Beethoven and Sibelius, Haydn’s Trumpet Concerto in E flat major with cadenzas by K. Penderecki performed by Gábor Boldoczki), as well as Sinfonietta Cracovia led by Jurek Dybał (works by Penderecki, Takemitsu, and Barber). The Silesian String Quartet’s chamber concert performance, featuring the complete string quartets by Krzysztof Penderecki, was intriguing.
