Concerts of the "Chain XVI" Festival, organized by the Witold Lutosławski Society and Polish Radio on the 25th anniversary of the composer's death, will be held from January 26 to February 9, 2019.
The programme of the Festival refers largely to Witold Lutosławski's connections with musical modernism and such works as Livre, Venetian Games and Three Poems, in which the composer transformed the ideas of contemporary innovators for his own use. To show this phenomenon, Lutosławski's works were combined in the programme with music by Iannis Xenakis and György Ligeti, and compositions that were written under the clear influence of post-war modernists. This group includes the opuses of Bolesław Szabelski and Grażyna Bacewicz, rarely performed today.
Parallel to the modernist thread, the thread of classical tradition will be present at the Festival. Haydn's and Beethoven's compositions (as well as various incarnations of traditional sonata and suite) were included in the programme to deepen its historical perspective, but not in opposition to contemporary innovation, which originated, among others, from the classics' achievements, in particular – the Beethoven style. Symphony No. 7 by Beethoven and Concerto for orchestra by Lutosławski will be performed at the closing concert under the baton the world-famous Kapellmeister, "a native of Warsaw", maestro Marek Janowski. The evening with the participation of the artist will be on the eve of his 80th birthday.
Significant place in the programme, however, will be occupied not only by serious and great works, but also by a presentation of the unknown miniatures of Lutosławski, written as musical illustrations for theater and radio productions.
Full programme available at: http://www.lutoslawski.org.pl/pl/event,222.html