The 13th edition of the Polish Music Festival will be held from July 7-16, 2017 in Kraków. Organized since 2005, the festival aims to present valuable works by Polish composers, written from the Middle Ages to the present day, and to contrast them with the world’s music and display them in various contexts. Audiences will hear both early and contemporary works by the greats—including Fryderyk Chopin, Mieczysław Karłowicz, Wojciech Kilar, Witold Lutosławski, Andrzej Panufnik, Karol Szymanowski, Aleksander Tansman and Henryk Wieniawski—all performed by outstanding soloists and ensembles from Poland and abroad. Some of the Festival highlights are as follows
The festival will be inaugurated with Karol Szymanowski’s opera Król Roger on July 7, in Kościół św. Katarzyny [St Catherine Church], which is in the historic district of Kazimierz. The concert performance will be given by the Wrocław Opera Choir and Orchestra, under the baton of Marcin Nałęcz-Niesiołowski. Baritone Valdis Jansons will take on the title role, with Wojciech Parchem as the Shepherd, Elżbieta Szmytka as Roxana, Aleksander Zuchowicz as Edrisi, Łukasz Konieczny as the Archbishop and Jadwiga Postrożna as the Deaconess.
On July 8, a performance of Szymanowski’s ballet Mandragora will feature the solo of tenor Michał Prószyński, a student of the Academy of Music in Kraków, performing with the AUKSO Chamber Orchestra of the City of Tychy, one of the best chamber orchestras in Europe. The concert will take place at the Kraków Philharmonic and will be conducted by eminent Polish conductor Marek Moś.
2017 marks the 145th anniversary of Stanisław Moniuszko’s death and thus the Festival will present Widma—a relatively unknown work composed to the text from Adam Mickiewicz’s Dziady. Widma will be performed on July 9 by Artur Janda, Maria Rozynek-Banaszak, Stanisław Kuflyuk, Katarzyna Mackiewicz, the Kraków Philharmonic Choir, and Sinfonia Iuventus, under the baton of Maciej Tworek.
On July 13, the audience will hear works by Paweł Mykietyn, including: 3 for 13, Double Concerto for two flutes and symphonic orchestra, and the Second Symphony. The performers of the concert are flutists Łukasz Długosz, Agata Kielar-Długosz, Sinfonia Varsovia Orchestra, led by Lebanese-Polish conductor Bassem Akiki at the Kraków Philharmonic Hall.
On July 16, acordonist Maciej Frąckiewicz will perform alongside pianist Marek Bracha, violinist Marią Sławek, and cellist Aleksandrą Lelek at the same venue. Frąckiewicz is considered one of the most famous Polish accordionists and has won many Polish and international competitions, including the prestigious Hiri Arrasate (Spain) in 2012 and more recently the coveted “Political Passport” Magazine Award in 2013.
The Festival will conclude on July 16 with compositions of Leos Janáček and again Szymanowski. The concert will feature acclaimed soloists from major European opera houses, alongside the Kraków Philharmonic Choir and the Janáček Philharmonic Orchestra, led by the artistic director of the Lublin Philharmonic—Wojciech Rodek.
July 7-16, 2017
Festival of Polish Music
Various venues in Kraków
Info: fmp.org.pl
[Source: polmic.pl, fmp.org.pl]