The Krzysztof Penderecki Festival: Final Concert

Few modern composers can compare with him – in the history of 20th- and 21st-century music no one has made such a tremendous career at such a fast pace as he has. His works are performed in concert halls and opera houses all over the world and constitute one of our most precious export national treasures. He was awarded honorary degrees by the universities of Rochester, Bordeaux, Leuven, Belgrade, Washington, Madrid, Poznań, Warsaw and Glasgow. To this day, the St Luke Passion he composed more than half a century ago is considered one of the most outstanding achievements of 20th-century music and one of the most frequently performed 20th-century pieces. His international career started when, as an unknown 28-year-old, he won all the first three prizes at the 2nd Young Composers’ Competition organized by the Polish Composers’ Union. Shortly thereafter, his Stanzas were performed all over Europe, while his Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima, composed a year later, was broadcast by radio stations all over the world, hailing him as the leading representative of the musical avant-garde. Today, enjoying unflagging popularity from Europe to the USA and Asia, he continues to implement further artistic projects, collaborating with the world’s most prominent performers. This year he celebrates his 85th birthday, which will be honoured at the Teatr Wielki – Polish National Opera with a unique concert. The program will include Paderewski’s famous Piano concerto, Penderecki’s Te Deum, as well as Górecki’s Beatus vir psalm. We will hear such singers as Tomasz Konieczny, Mariusz Godlewski and Wioletta Chodowicz, with Garrick Ohlsson accompanying them at the piano and Grzegorz Nowak conducting.

PROGRAMME

Krzysztof Penderecki

Violin Concerto No. 2 'Metamorphosen'

Concerto Grosso for three cellos and orchestra 

Dies illa

• Time is measured by

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