A concert version of the opera Hagith by Karol Szymanowski, the best Polish chamber music, songs by Witold Lutosławski, forgotten works by Konstanty Gorski and gems of Polish Baroque – this is the 17th edition of the Festival of Polish Music in Krakow, which will take place on 8-18 July 2021.
The opening concert will feature the one-act opera Hagith by Karol Szymanowski (8 July, St. Catherine's Church), loosely based on the biblical story of King David (the Old King) and the beautiful girl Abishag (Hagith), written in the style of German expressionism. Joanna Zawartko will play the title role, Wojciech Parchem will play the Old King, and Stanisław Napierała will play the Young King. The work will be presented in a concert version. The Choir and Orchestra of the Silesian Philharmonic will be conducted by Maestro Maciej Tworek.
On the second day of the festival (9 July, Collegium Novum Aula of the Jagiellonian University), we will hear 19th and 20th century chamber music for clarinet and piano. Works by Mieczysław Weinberg and Krzysztof Penderecki will be performed alongside compositions by Ignacy Feliks Dobrzyński and Witold Friemann. Witold Lutosławski's dance songs (11 July, Stu Theatre), written in the 1950s and early 1960s under the pseudonym 'Derwid', will be presented by the world-renowned soprano Elżbieta Szmytka, accompanied by the accordionist Janusz Wojtarowicz, founder and leader of the famous Motion Trio.
Chamber works by Maciej Radziwiłł and Mieczysław Karłowicz will be presented on 16 July at the Manggha Museum by chamber musicians of the Kraków Philharmonic under the baton of František Mack. The rarely played Double Concerto for Oboe and Harp by Witold Lutosławski will be performed by Czech chamber musicians: oboist Vilém Veverka and harpist Kateřina Englichová. The outstanding mezzo-soprano Ewa Biegas will perform with tenor Stanisław Napierała in the concert entitled "The Master and the Student" (17 July, Collegium Novum Aula of the Jagiellonian University). They will present 12 Songs, Op. 22 by Ignacy Jan Paderewski and a series of songs by Konstanty Antoni Gorski, a forgotten Polish composer of the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries.
Full programme is available at: http://www.fmp.org.pl/