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Silesian Quartet will celebrate Zbigniew Bargielski’s 80th birthday by performing his compositions on January 21, 2017 at the Chamber Hall of the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra in Katowice.

First part of the evening will be dedicated to Bargielski’s music. The artists will perform String Quartet No. 4 "Le temps ardent", which was written for the Alban Berg Quartet in 1994, and - joined by clarinetist Roman Widaszek - On the Other Side of the Mirror (1988, rev. 2003) for string quartet and clarinet - a work that was called by music critic Andrzej Chłopecki "a mini concert for clarinet and mini string orchestra” which in some ways makes references to Ebony Concerto by Igor Stravinsky.

The concert will be concluded with music by Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, whose Octet in E-flat major, Op. 20 (1825) will be interpreted by Silesian Quartet and Meccore String Quartet.

Tickets available on-line at: www.nospr.org.pl

Grand Theatre in Łódź will stage Stanisław Moniuszko’s Halka. The production directed by Jarosław Kilian will be premiered on January 21, 2017.

The choice of a premiere date was no coincidence as the beginning of year 2017 marks an anniversary of the Theatre’s new building at Dąbrowskiego Square - it was opened on January 19, 1967. On Saturday evening, the artists will be conducted by Wojciech Rodek.

The first version of this work, written to a libretto by Włodzimierz Wolski, was completed in 1848. In 1858, its revised version comprising 4 acts was premiered. "Moniuszko in his works tried to combine Western European Romanticism with the spirit of the Polish culture. Halka is without a doubt an example of successful combination of features of Italian, French and German opera with elements typical for Polish folklore and music tradition. (…) Thanks to its patriotic and social significance, it became an expression of Polish national identity. In order to understand this opera story about an abandoned girl, we have to set it in the right context – of a social discord, which at Moniuszko's time led to the Gallician slaughter. Halka is a young woman sustained between two worlds: of the immoral nobility and vengeful highlanders. There are no unambiguously bad or good characters here. It is not a tearful melodrama. It is a cruel parable of human loneliness". (source: www.operalodz.com)

Tickets available on-line at: www.bilety24.pl

Grand Theatre in Łódź will celebrate its 50th anniversary with a special concert held under the title Firs Have Been Rustling for Half a Century on January 20, 2017.

The significance of Stanisław Moniuszko’s Halka might be easily spotted when one realizes that it was selected to inaugurate several Polish opera theatres - Poznań Opera House (1919), Wrocław Opera (1945), and Silesian Opera in Bytom (1945). The situation was not different in Łódź as the newly-constructed building of the Grand Theatre opened its doors on January 19, 1967 by staging Moniuszko’s opera. It is this very tradition that will be revived exactly fifty years later.

The anniversary concert, performed by the soloists, choir, ballet and orchestra under the baton of Wojciech Rodek, will feature fragments of Halka and Krzesany by Wojciech Kilar.

More information: www.operalodz.pl

A concert devoted to music by Krzysztof Penderecki will be held on January 18, 2017 at the Academy of Music in Gdańsk.

The programme includes Penderecki’s chamber works: Three Miniatures for violin and piano (1959), Capriccio per Siegfried Palm for cello (1970), Cadenza per viola sola (1984; arranged for violin by C. Edinger in 1987), Prelude for clarinet (1987), Duo concertante for violin and double bass (2010) and Sonata No. 2 for violin and piano (2000).

The compositions will be interpreted by the Academy’s lecturers and performers of the Polish Baltic Philharmonic: pianists Bogna Czerwińska-Szymula and Paweł Rydel, violinists Karolina Piątkowska-Nowicka, Anna Wandtke, Piotr Kwaśny and Andrzej Kacprzak, cellist Tadeusz Samerek, doublebassist Sebastian Wypych and clarinetist Andrzej Wojciechowski.

Admission free.

New Music Orchestra’s concert planned for January 15, 2017 at the Chamber Hall of the Polish Radio National Symphony Orchestra in Katowice will mark Paweł Hendrich ’s composition residency held in season 2016/17.

The programme includes the composer’s Pteropetros for accordion, wind quintet and string quartet, and Accant for accordion and computer. The orchestra will be conducted by Szymon Bywalec, while the accordion parts will be performed by Rafał Łuc (ensemble’s artist-in-residence).

Next concertspresenting works by Hendrich will be held on March 5 (premiere of Hordiaver) and April 30 (Liolit for chamber orchestra).

The concert is co-financed by the Institute of Music and Dance ("Composer-in-residence" programe).