Maestro from Radomsko
14 September 2024, 7.00 p.m.
Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary Queen of Poland in Radomsko, 45 Piastowska Street
Performers
Konstanty Andrzej Kulka | violin
Szymon Telecki | violin
Łukasz Trepczyński | piano
Jerzy Semkow Polish Sinfonia Iuventus Orchestra
Norbert Twórczyński | conductor
Programme
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Overture Don Giovanni
Johann Nepomuk Hummel
Concerto for violin and piano
Ludwig van Beethoven
Overture Coriolan
Feliks Janiewicz
Violin Concerto No. 5 in E minor
In December this year, 10 years will have elapsed since Jerzy Semkow, a great conductor, died. He is recognised as one of the most prominent orchestra leaders and musical luminaries of the 20th and 21st centuries. His abundant teaching experience inspired him to propose the establishment of an orchestra in Poland that would offer professional employment to the most talented young university students. Along these lines, there emerged the project of the Polish Sinfonia Iuventus Orchestra set up by the Minister of Culture and National Heritage in October 2007 and premiered already in June the following year. In December 2008, he recorded the Orchestra’s debut album covering Schubert’s two symphonies, most acclaimed by critics, followed by another excellent album with Tchaikovsky’s Fifth. On 21 February 2010, the ensemble performed under his baton at the Grand Theatre in Warsaw, while on 18 June that year the Orchestra together with their unforgettable mentor performed a concert in the UNESCO Auditorium in Paris. Since 2018, our ensemble has proudly borne the name of the great Conductor and friend of young musicians.
In 2023, we had the honour to inaugurate the 1st Music Festival named after Jerzy Semkow in Radomsko – the Master’s home town – with a concert conducted by Monika Wolińska. This year, we will be delighted to take part in its second edition. The concert will include two great overtures: the introduction to Mozart’s epoch-making opera Don Giovanni (it was supposedly composed during the night before its premiere in 1787) and to Heinrich Joseph von Collin’s Coriolanus, which Beethoven composed in 1807 by means of programmatic music, describing the dramatic story of a Roman general. Legendary Polish violinist Konstanty Andrzej Kulka will perform the Violin Concerto, full of classical charm, by the now somewhat forgotten Polish composer and violin virtuoso Feliks Janiewicz, who from the age of 30 was mainly active in the British Isles, giving concerts in London, Dublin and Liverpool before settling in Edinburgh, where he died at the age of 86. In London, he may have become acquainted with Johann Nepomuk Hummel, one of the greatest pianists of that era, who performed there with great success. His interesting and unique Concerto for Piano and Violin dates 1804, when he took up a post at the court of Prince Nikolai Esterházy after Haydn had retired. It may have been one of his ‘presentation’ compositions. Its second movement is a form of variation particularly favoured by Hummel. The piece will be performed by Szymon Telecki in the violin part and Łukasz Trepczyński on the piano.
Norbert Twórczyński, leading the concert, is a graduate of the Academy of Music in Poznań, majoring in symphonic and opera conducting, and the Academy of Art in Szczecin (music education – specialisation: choral conducting). He is a winner of the Prize of the Minister of Culture and National Heritage for students of art schools for outstanding achievements in artistic creation. He has served as assistant conductor at two major music institutions of Szczecin: the Opera at the Castle (2012–2016) and the Mieczysław Karłowicz Philharmonic (2017–2021). Since the 2022/2023 artistic season, he has been the orchestra manager for the Jerzy Semkow Polish Sinfonia Iuventus Orchestra. He has led the premieres of many contemporary pieces and performed and recorded with many valued orchestras at home and abroad. He is a lecturer at the Academy of Art in Szczecin.
Organiser: Fundacja Inicjatyw Kulturalnych w Radomsku
