A master recital by Krzysztof Jakowicz on the occasion of his 80th birthday will take place on 28 January 2020 at 7.00 p.m. at the National Philharmonic. The eminent violinist accompanied by the pianist Robert Morawski will perform works by Ignacy Jan Paderewski, Witold Lutosławski, Henri Vieuxtemps, Aleksander Zarzycki and Henryk Wieniawski.
For over 200 years, Polish composers have written sonatas for violin and piano. Examples of the genre have been penned by, among others, Józef Elsner, Ignacy Jan Paderewski, Karol Szymanowski, Grażyna Bacewicz, and Krzysztof Penderecki. The first part of the concert will be devoted to the earliest two of them – both written in three movements and in a classical form, albeit quite distant from each other in terms of style.
Józef Elsner composed his Sonata in F Major, Op. 10 in 1798, and thus towards the end of his seven-year-long stay in Lvov. It is an example of unpretentiously flowing music, where neither of the instruments is favoured over the other. In turn, in Jan Paderewski’s Sonata in A Minor, the piano part is much more expansive and clearly shows the composer’s virtuosic aspirations, especially in the spectacular third movement.
During his numerous travels abroad, Aleksander Zarzycki (1834-1895) made the acquaintance of the greatest composers and artists in Europe of the second half of the 19th century. One of these was the violinist Pablo Sarasate, who included in his repertoire Zarzycki’s Mazurka in G Major dedicated to him. The popularity of this vibrant composition was further consolidated at the international level by Bronisław Huberman and David Oistrakh. Violinists are equally fond of Zarzycki’s Romance in E Major – a melodic piece of remarkable beauty, in which they can show off their instruments in their highest registers.
One of the final pieces composed by Witold Lutosławski was Subito for violin and piano from 1992. The title refers to the work’s structure – a series of violently changing and diverse episodes that move along at breakneck speed. His slightly earlier Partita (1984) conveys the flavours of the Baroque.
Information on tickets at: http://www.filharmonia.pl/koncerty-i-bilety/repertuar/recital-mistrzowski