Zalewski | Karłowicz | Bruckner Symphonic concert
Anton Bruckner's Symphony No. 4 in E flat major, “Romantic”, is one of his most highly regarded works. The first version was written in 1874, but over the next dozen or so years, the composer reworked it many times, especially the last two parts. The premiere in 1881 (the second version of the work was performed) in Vienna was conducted by Hans Richter and was a success, which was something the composer rarely experienced. The third version was the first symphony published (1888) during the composer's lifetime. The title “Romantic” comes from the creator and refers to medieval imagery, suggested by a programme that was ultimately withdrawn, which spoke of mornings over an ancient city, knights setting off on their journeys, hunting scenes and images of nature. The symphony consists of four movements: I – with an iconic horn solo heralding dawn, II – a lyrical and elegiac Andante, III – an energetic “hunting” scherzo with an idyllic trio, and IV – an impressive symphonic finale, always particularly important to Bruckner. Drawing on the traditions of Beethoven and Wagner, the composer creates music of monumental form, mystical atmosphere and powerful emotional tension.
Ignacy Zalewski is one of the most talented Polish composers of the younger generation. He is Vice-Rector for Academic Affairs at the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music, where he has also been teaching composition since 2021; he serves as Secretary General of the Polish Composers' Union. His Third Symphony, Underground Birds, is an intimate, poignant work dedicated to the victims of the Augustów Roundup, an NKVD operation in July 1945 during which thousands of people from the Podlasie and Suwałki regions were arrested and hundreds were murdered. The inspiration for the piece and its title came from poems by Erazm Stefanowski from the volume Lipcowe anioły (July Angels), used in the original version, premiered on 12 July 2022 with the participation of the Polish Sinfonia Iuventus Orchestra conducted by Marek Wroniszewski. A new, purely instrumental version will be performed during the March concert.
Mieczysław Karłowicz's dream was to become a violin virtuoso, but ultimately he chose the path of a composer. His solid training as a violinist proved very helpful in his compositional work, and its most beautiful fruit is the Violin Concerto in A major. The premiere (together with Symphony of Rebirth) took place in Berlin, where the author studied, on 21 March 1903, conducted by the composer himself, with the famous Stanisław Barcewicz as soloist and the excellent Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. This difficult task was accomplished successfully, delighting audiences and critics alike. This youthful work, daring though still somewhat “academic” and conservative in form (yet revealing in some harmonic ideas the mature, fully individual style of his later great symphonic poems), became one of the most important works in Polish violin literature. It will be performed by Konstanty Andrzej Kulka – one of the most outstanding Polish violinists, who has become a true legend of violin playing thanks to thousands of concerts and recitals performed on the most important stages in Europe, the Americas and Asia, collaborations with the most renowned orchestras and conductors, numerous recordings documenting his artistry, and many years of teaching, thanks to which he has shaped successive generations of Polish violinists. He performed Karłowicz's concerto many times and recorded it on his first CD in 1988; he recorded it several more times, and one of the recordings of this work received the Fryderyk Award in 2001. The concert will be conducted by Wojciech Rodek, director of the Polish Sinfonia Iuventus Orchestra.