Penderecki / Greenwood / Lutosławski / Dessner / Górecki / Gibbons

The programme:
Krzysztof Penderecki Polymorphia
Jonny Greenwood 48 Responses to Polymorphia
Henryk Mikołaj Górecki Symphony No. 3 'Symphony of Sorrowful Songs' Op. 36
Witold Lutosławski Musique funèbre
Bryce Dessner Réponse Lutoslawski

Performers:
Beth Gibbons – vocals
Conductors – Krzysztof Penderecki (Polymorphia, Musique funèbre, Symphony No. 3)/ 
Bassem Akiki (48 Responses to Polymorphia, Réponse Lutoslawski)
Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra 

Organised by:
National Audiovisual Institute
Ministry of Culture and National Heritage of Poland
Concert curator: Filip Berkowicz

Co-organised by:
Teatr Wielki – Polish National Opera 
Polish Radio 2

www.trzejkompozytorzy.pl

Marking last year's centenary of Witold Lutosławski's birth and the 80th birthdays of two other prominent Polish composers – Henryk Mikołaj Górecki, who died in 2010, and Krzysztof Penderecki, 29 November sees a special concert to be held at the Teatr Wielki – Polish National Opera, featuring works by The Three Great Composers.

Henryk Mikołaj Górecki's Symphony No. 3 will be performed by Beth Gibbons of the UK band Portishead and Krzysztof Penderecki. A singer/songwriter, producer, and co-founder of Portishead (together with Geoff Barrow and Adrian Utley), Gibbons will perform the solo part in Górecki's Symphony No. 3 Op. 36, dubbed 'Symphony of Sorrowful Songs' accompanied by the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Penderecki. It is the composer's another impressive collaboration with a contemporary music artist, after projects developed with Aphex Twine and Jonny Greenwood. 

Also to be performed is Bryce Dessner's work inspired by Witold Lutosławski's music, commissioned by the Polish National Audiovisual Institute (NInA) to mark the Lutosławski Year celebrated in 2013, and never yet presented to the public.

Fascinated by Lutosławski's music, Dessner is a composer and instrumentalist, known to the Polish public as a member of the indie rock group the National. Dessner has written on a commission from the Kronos Quartet to celebrate the 75th birthday of Steve Reich, with who he also performed at the Manchester International Festival. Dessner has also collaborated with Jonny Greenwood as part of the Holland Festival (The Music Of Jonny Greenwood And Bryce Dessner), which saw the premiere of Dessner's work for a string orchestra. 

'This unique dialogue between an artist of the young generation and the Polish composer is NInA's another release, after the Penderecki/Greenwood album, that presents the music and musical style developed by Poland's prominent 20th-century composer both to younger audiences and from a new, innovative, perspective,' said Michał Merczyński, director of the National Audiovisual Institute. 

The audience will also be treated to one of a kind musical dialogue between Penderecki and Greenwood, composer, instrumentalist, and well-known guitarist for Readiohead, whose work has long been inspired by Penderecki's music.