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Henryk Mikołaj Górecki’s Concerto for harpsichord (or piano) and string orchestra, Op. 40 (1980), is a fascinating example of a blend of tradition and modernity, minimalism and… Polish highlanders’ music motifs. It was commissioned by Polskie Radio and the premiere of the harpsichord version took place in 1980 in Katowice. The soloist was Elżbieta Chojnacka, to whom the Concerto was dedicated; it was also played by a string group of the Great Symphony Orchestra of the Polish Radio and Television conducted by Stanisław Wisłocki. During the concert, the composition will be performed by one of the most promising talents among Polish harpsichordists and pianists, Maciej Skrzeczkowski, admired for his stylish and competent performances of music of various eras and styles, both past and contemporary. At the Z. Brzewski Secondary Music School in Warsaw, he studied in the piano class of Marek Bracha and the harpsichord class of Beata Popis. He is currently studying at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague in the historical piano class of Bart van Oort and Petra Somlaï and in the harpsichord class of Carole Cerasi. Recognised in numerous competitions, applauded on many stages, he performed with our Orchestra on the Palester: Concertinos (2020) album, which includes a recording of the Concertino per clavicembalo e dieci strumenti under the baton of Łukasz Borowicz.

Before the era of the great symphonic poems, of which Mieczysław Karłowicz was to become a master, concerto overtures played a similar role as narrative programmatic forms. The famous Fairy Tale (1848) by Stanisław Moniuszko (described as a ‘fantasy overture’) is a model example of such evocative music, whose contrasting themes form a fascinating ‘story’. Yet we do not get to learn what the story is about – the composer has left it to the listener’s imagination without revealing the literary programme. One is left to regret that this charming symphonic miniature remained isolated in the oeuvre of the author, who devoted himself almost entirely to vocal forms, i.e. song and opera, and revealed his symphonic talent more than once, but only in the overtures and interludes of his stage works.

Among the favourite forms of virtuosic music of the Romantic era were various types of ‘Fantasies on the theme of…’ – usually of motifs from a well-known opera, but also of a song or instrumental piece. They varied in form, with some being a kind of potpourri of successive melodies, and more often a variation-type take, where the original opera motifs would be subjected to successive, technically dazzling transformations. The famous opera Faust by Charles Gounod served as a model for such an arrangement for Henryk Wieniawski, who – intriguingly – did not reach for the most popular fragments of the original, but carefully selected them for their dramaturgical and emotional coherence. This virtuosic work will be presented by Marta Gębska, a graduate of the Z. Brzewski Secondary Music School in Warsaw in the class of Roman Lasocki, and then a student of the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in Warsaw in the class of Konstanty Andrzej Kulka. The student is a laureate of first prizes in many violin competitions. She was a scholarship holder of the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage program ‘Young Poland’ in 2015, 2022, and other prestigious scholarships. Since her successful debut at the age of 13, as a soloist with the Podkarpacie Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of Tadeusz Wojciechowski, she has performed regularly on Polish and foreign stages. She has a debut album titled Per Musicam Ad Astra, and another one featuring the phonographic premiere of Duo A-dur op. 18 by Józef Nowakowski.

Wojciech Chałupka is a twenty-four-year-old composer and saxophonist. Since 2017, he studied at the Z. Brzewski Secondary Music School in Warsaw, where he was a student of Paweł Gusnar and Alicja Wołyńczyk in the saxophone class. In 2018, he became a student at the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in Warsaw, in Paweł Gusnar’s saxophone class and in Dariusz Przybylski’s composition class. He is currently studying at the Zürcher Hochschule der Künste in the saxophone class of Lars Mlekusch. He has won an impressive number of prizes and awards at prestigious competitions at home and abroad, and performs extensively as a soloist and chamber musician. As a composer, he was awarded 1st place at the 4th National Composition Competition ‘Moja (mi)nuta’ in Łódź for his Misterium piece for alto saxophone solo. The concert will feature his new work: Double Concerto for saxophone and trumpet, performed by two brothers, graduates of the Z. Brzewski Secondary Music School in Warsaw. Kajetan Puczko, playing the trumpet, studied under Jan Harasimowicz and is currently studying under Ad Welleman at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam. He was a member of the most important Polish youth orchestras, such as the Lutosławski Youth Orchestra (LYO) and the Young Polish Philharmonic (MPF), as well as the International Lutosławski Youth Orchestra and the Royal Concertgebouw Youth Orchestra (RCO Young). The other brother, saxophonist Kacper Puczko, studied at the same secondary school under Paweł Gusnar and Alicja Wołyńczyk; he is currently studying at the Conservatoire Royal de Bruxelles under Vincent David. Both brothers were scholarship recipients of the ‘Young Poland’ program in 2019, and they have won awards in the most important competitions in their fields. They are actively performing on prestigious stages in Poland and abroad.

The concert will be conducted by Marek Wroniszewski, an esteemed conductor recognised as the best Polish participant in the 10th Grzegorz Fitelberg International Competition in Katowice, deputy director from 2018–2022 and currently guest conductor of the Jerzy Semkow Polish Sinfonia Iuventus Orchestra.

Free entrance: Guest passes are available at the school’s department of administration from 12 April 2023. Limited number of guests.

Organiser: Nowa Miodowa