Munich Philharmonic: Kilar / Chopin / GóreckiKrzysztof Urbański (conductor), Jan Lisiecki (piano)
A prelude to the commemoration of the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, this performance features only works by Polish composers as a tribute to the history and culture of our neighbours to the east. Almost 150 years lie between the creation of Chopin’s early concert pieces for piano and orchestra and Wojciech Kilar’s symphonic poem Krzesany. What all three works have in common is their reference to Polish folklore.
A prelude to the commemoration of the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, this performance features only works by Polish composers as a tribute to the history and culture of our neighbours to the east. Almost 150 years lie between the creation of Chopin’s early concert pieces for piano and orchestra and Wojciech Kilar’s symphonic poem Krzesany. What all three works have in common is their reference to Polish folklore.
The Munich Philharmonic’s concert under the baton of Krzysztof Urbański ends with one of the most moving works of contemporary music – one that many will recognise, be it consciously or unconsciously. In the early 1990s, the middle movement of Henryk Mikołaj Górecki’s emotional, gripping Symphony No 3 became a radio favourite and was frequently used in films and television series.
Entitled “Symphony of Lamentations”, the composition sets Polish texts about motherhood, love and loss to music, including a medieval Marian lament, an Upper Silesian folk song from the time of the Polish uprisings and a prayer that an 18-year-old wrote on a cellar prison wall in the Zakopane Gestapo headquarters in 1944.
Programme
- Wojciech Kilar: Krzesany symphonic poem
- Frédéric Chopin:
– Grande fantaisie sur des airs polonais for piano and orchestra in A major, Op 13
– Krakowiak, concert rondo for piano and orchestra in F major, Op 14 - Henryk Mikołaj Górecki: Symphony No 3 for soprano and orchestra, Op 36, Symphony of Lamentations
