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Polish Music Newsletter |  |
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March 2013, Vol. 19, No. 3. ISSN 1098-9188. Published monthly. Lutoslawski Year 2013 | News | Performances | PMC News Back to PMC Home Page | PMC Newsletter Archive
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LUTOSŁAWSKI YEAR 2013 |
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LUTOSŁAWSKI CONCERTO WINS COMPETITION FOR ROSSELET
Performers in USC’s Concerto Night will also include clarinetist Joseph Morris in Nielsen’s Clarinet Concerto op. 57 and pianist Fang-Fang Shi in Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 1 op. 15.
[Sources: facebook.com, usc.edu]
ANNIVERSARIES CELEBRATED IN BEETHOVEN MAGAZINE
The latest issue of Beethoven Magazine (No. 17) is devoted to the big three of Polish 20th-century composers, whose anniversaries are celebrated this year: Witold Lutosławski, Krzysztof Penderecki, and Henryk Mikołaj Górecki. The magazine is edited by Anna S. Dębowska, and the graphic layout is designed by Witold Siemaszkiewicz. The work of these composers is discussed in the issue by musicologist Iwona Lindstedt, who also interviewed Krzysztof Penderecki about his music, including his latest works such as Missa brevis, Double Concerto for Violin and Viola, Duo Concertante and the new version of the opera The Devils of Loudun. Anna S. Dębowska writes about the celebrations of the Lutosławski Year in Warsaw (Anne-Sophie Mutter’s concert) and London (Krystian Zimerman’s concert), while in her essay Ewa Szczecińska attempts to answer why Witold Lutosławski did not write an opera, despite the fact that theatricality was so significant in his instrumental oeuvre. The current issue of the magazine is complemented by an important topic of the relay of generations, namely the debuts of a new generation of artists born in the 1980s and 1990s. Grzegorz Dąbrowski talks to 24-year-old Magdalena Bojanowicz (cello) and Maciej Frąckiewicz (accordion), winners of this year’s Polityka Passports. Tomasz Handzlik interviews jazz pianist Piotr Orzechowski (“Pianohooligan”), the author of an interesting record experiment transcribing some of Krzysztof Penderecki’s instrumental works to the piano.
In addition, the most important events in contemporary art are recommended by Dorota Jarecka from Gazeta Wyborcza, who indicates the venues worth visiting this year. Also, Anna Cymer writes about music buildings: this installment discusses Harpa in Reykjavik, a concert and opera hall that looks as if built from ice and light. [Source: beethoven.org.pl]
LUTOSŁAWSKI IN MWM
The Witold Lutosławski Year was celebrated by Muzyka w mieście [Music in the City]—a magazine published by the Wrocław Philharmonic—with a special January-February issue devoted mainly to the oeuvre and life of Lutosławski, the most outstanding Polish composer after Chopin. Anne Sophie-Mutter, Heinz Holliger, David Harrington from Kronos Quartet, Esa Pekka-Salonen, Solveig Kringelborn, and Kazimierz Kord talk about the man and his music. Paweł Hendrich explains why Lutosławski’s chords sound like leaves in the wind, Adam Sławiński recalls his decades-long friendship with the composer, and Adrian Thomas reveals the secret of Lutosławski’s L-shaped carpet covering the floor of his study. There will be more articles devoted to Lutosławski this year, including the memories of Ewa Pobłocka and Krzysztof Meyer. [Source: polmic.pl]
NEW POLISH RADIO CD – IN MEMORIAM
[Sources: polmic.pl, sklep.polskieradio.pl]
LUTOSŁAWSKI CONFERENCE “Lutosławski and the interior drama: the spaces of dream” will be a day of talks and music as part of the Philharmonia Orchestra’s Woven Words series celebrating the centenary of Lutosławski’s birth. Steven Stucky, Series Advisor, will be joined by other leading musicologists and specialists in the life and music of Witold Lutosławski.
March 16, 2013 | All-day [Sources: woven-words.co.uk, southbankcentre.co.uk]
WOVEN WORDS CONCERT SERIES CONCLUDES IN LONDON Royal College of Music performs Duos and Fanfares
Philharmonia Orchestra & Kwartludium
Held in Royal Festival Hall, this program contains two of Lutosławski’s major works of crucial importance. The virtuoso fast-reflexes of the Concerto for Orchestra form a blazing climax to Lutosławski’s early period and mark a new fascination with Bartók and the musical potential of indigenous folksong, while the glorious Cello Concerto (1970), commissioned originally by the Royal Philharmonic Society which is celebrating its 200th anniversary this year, was composed during a time of great political unrest in Poland. Throughout this series the music of Lutosławski is paired with that of Debussy and Ravel, both composers whom meant so much to Lutosławski; and whose delight in color inspired him throughout his life. Debussy's principal aim in La Mer was 'to create a mysterious harmony between nature and the imagination'; something that clearly had a vital impact on Lutosławski's own creative thinking. That same night, Royal Festival Hall will host Polish chamber ensemble Kwartludium in a free pre-concert performance at 6pm. Kwartludium will perform music by contemporary Polish composers including Wojciech Blecharz and Jagoda Szmytka, arranged in liaison with the Mickiewicz Foundation.
Philharmonia Orchestra, Cellonet/Cellotronicum & El Derwid-Sunspots
The meticulously fashioned soundscapes of Ravel’s suite Ma mère l'oye [Mother Goose] and his La valse form the perfect musical backdrop to this final tribute to Lutosławski in the composer's centenary year. Les espaces du sommeil [The Spaces of Sleep] is a mesmerizing setting of a poem by French surrealist Robert Desnos in which Lutosławski imaged 'the singer is telling us about his dreams', while Chain 2 continues to explore the element of 'chance' that had been an important part of Lutosławski's music since the 1960s. Esa-Pekka Salonen conducted the première recording of the Fourth Symphony, the crowning achievement of the composer's distinguished career, just three months before he passed away. A free pre-concert recital by two Polish avant-garde groups: Cellonet – eight eminent Polish cellists who combine art with virtuosity and Cellotronicum – an innovative project for solo cellist, Andrzej Bauer, and electronics. Arranged in liaison with the Adam Mickiewicz Institute.
[Sources: woven-words.co.uk, polishculture.org.uk]
PHILHARMONIA ON TOUR
In between concerts in London, Esa-Pekka Salonen and the Philharmonia Orchestra with take their program to Warsaw and to three different cities in Italy. The programs in each venue will differ slightly, but each will include some combination of music by Lutosławski, Ravel and Debussy.
MORE NEWS See the Awards section for the winners of the 2013 Lutosławski Cello Competition! |
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PMC NEWS |
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SOUNDS FROM BEHIND THE IRON CURTAIN:
The Polish Music Center (PMC) at USC’s Thornton School of Music in Los Angeles is pleased to present “Sounds from Behind the Iron Curtain: Polish Music after World War II”—a day-long event held on April 6, 2013 at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. It will include a Musicology and Digital Humanities Conference, a piano recital by Leszek Możdżer, and an exhibit of manuscripts by contemporary Polish composers, culled from the Manuscript Collection of the Polish Music Center. CONFERENCE: 9 a.m.-3 p.m. (Ahmanson Center, Room 236, USC) The conference “Sounds from Behind the Iron Curtain: Polish Music after World War II” will bring together musicologists and cultural historians in a vivid conversation exploring the development of Polish music since 1945. Presentations will focus on the relation of music to politics, identity, and the reception of Western composers in Poland under Socialist Realism and during the Solidarity era. The conference program will also include film screenings and will be streamed live online for viewers around the world. For a full description of all presentations, click here. CONCERT BY LESZEK MOŻDŻER: 4 p.m. (Alfred Newman Recital Hall, USC)
Leszek Możdżer explores and reinterprets the music of his illustrious predecessors and colleagues using his own unique, pioneering style that fuses classics and jazz and breathes new life into well-known repertoire. Możdżer’s musical genius lies in his uncanny ability to focus on the salient features of a chosen style and invest them with a unique sound identity that melds the jazz and classical avant-garde traditions. Możdżer’s artistry is an interesting reflection of how Polish musicians have reinterpreted a genre that is native to America. MANUSCRIPT EXHIBIT: 3-6 p.m. (Alfred Newman Recital Hall Vestibule, USC) Selected manuscripts from the Polish Music Center’s Manuscript Collection will be presented to the public after the conference. The PMC Manuscript Collection was established with an initial donation of five major orchestral works by Witold Lutosławski, personally deposited by the composer in 1985 at the founding of the PMC. The exhibit will include Lutosławski’s manuscripts as well as Krzysztof Meyer’s opera Cyberiada and Krzysztof Penderecki’s String Quartet, and other highlights of contemporary Polish music. Registration for the conference is $25, and includes entrance to all presentations and film screenings, as well as breakfast and lunch. To register, email polmusic@usc.edu. Admission to the concert and manuscript exhibit is free.
PADEREWSKI WEBER MOVES FROM VANCOUVER TO PASO ROBLES
Paderewski always played on Steinway pianos… right? Not quite. For two of his American tours, he actually used a Weber piano. It came about because of Paderewski’s disagreement with Charles Steinway, who refused to accede to Paderewski’s detailed requirements for regulating and preparing Steinway pianos for his tours. As Paderewski recalled in his Memoirs:
The added bonus of Paderewski’s brief liaison with Weber was meeting of Eldon Joubert, a master piano technician for the Weber Piano Company, who stayed on as Paderewski’s personal tuner for the rest of the great pianist’s career.
About a year ago, Joanna Kozińska-Frybes, Consul General of the Republic of Poland in Los Angeles, called Marek Zebrowski at the PMC to let him know that there is a Weber piano in Vancouver, possibly associated with Paderewski’s performances there. It was housed in the offices of Consulate General of Poland in downtown Vancouver. A few weeks later, in February 2012, Mr. Zebrowski flew to Vancouver to meet with the Consular officials and the Paderewski Heritage Committee, headed by Tamara Szymańska and Irena Gostomska. The piano is a 9-foot grand, with an ornate, Victorian case, and it dates from about the mid-1880s. It has been rebuilt and refinished and is in playable condition. Mr. Zebrowski will once again travel to Vancouver to lecture on Paderewski and perform on this historic instrument. The invitation-only event at the Polish Consulate is scheduled for March 15. A few weeks later, the Weber piano will travel to Paso Robles on California’s Central Coast where Paderewski owned vineyards and almond groves during the years 1914-1941. The instrument has been generously donated by the Paderewski Heritage Committee in Vancouver to the Paderewski Festival in Paso Robles, an annual event always held in November in commemoration of Paderewski’s birthday. For more information about the piano’s history in Vancouver, read Cheryl Rossi’s article for the Vancouver Courier.
PADEREWSKI AND STEINWAY IN CHICAGO The elegant building of the Consulate General of the Republic of Poland in Chicago hosted a special fundraising event for their 1911 Steinway A grand piano. Organized by the Chicago chapter of the Kosciuszko Foundation, the March 1 event drew an elite crowd of Polonia to the Consulate’s formal ground floor ballroom. A brief introduction by Consul General Paulina Kapuścińska was followed by Marek Zebrowski’s lecture about Paderewski, Steinway pianos, and Paderewski’s substantial links to Chicago and its Polish-American community. The musical part of the evening included Paderewski’s best-known piano works performed by Zebrowski and Igor Lipiński, a doctoral student at the Northwestern University. Lipiński also performed a selection of Chopin’s Mazurkas and Zebrowski returned for the final selection of Chopin’s Andante spianato and Grand Polonaise. A standing ovation from the crowd elicited an encore from both artists, who jointly presented the opening dance from Paderewski’s Tatra Album for piano 4-hands.
A silent auction of books on Paderewski and Chopin, CDs, a selection of premium wines donated by Cass Winery in Paso Robles, CA, and a weekend getaway at the Cass Winery Guest House added to a very successful fundraising evening. A sumptuous buffet followed, with traditional Polish hospitality on display. On March 2, the Kosciuszko Foundation Chicago Chapter held another fundraiser for the Consulate Steinway at the exclusive home of Dr. Kornelia Krol in Winnetka, Illinois. On this occasion, Mr. Lipiński and Mr. Zebrowski were joined by soprano Brygida Bziukiewicz-Kulig, who—together with Mr. Lipiński—performed selections of songs by Chopin, Moniuszko and Karłowicz. The two pianists once again traded places, performing selections of salon pieces by Paderewski and Chopin, with Mr. Zebrowski’s commentary providing the connective tissue to the music. A silent auction followed the music and then the assembled guests were treated to several courses of traditional Polish supper under the hospitable roof of Dr. Krol. The latest update of receipts from both fundraising events brought very good news to the organizers and all donors: the goal of collecting the funds for the Consulate Steinway restoration has been reached! The process of replacing the strings, action, soundboard and pinblock, as well as refinishing the case, repairing the pedal lyre, and regulating all the mechanisms will take a few solid months. An inaugural concert for the restored instrument is already being considered. Stay tuned for further details! [Image source: chicago.msz.gov.pl]
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NEWS |
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PRZYBYLSKI PREMIERE
The following day, another performance of Przybylski’s Passion will be held during the inaugural concert of XIII Festiwalu Muzyki Pasyjnej i Paschalnej [Music Festival of Passion and Paschal] in Poznań, in the Cloister of the Discalced Carmelites. It will also be performed on March 17 (St. Ansgar Kirche) and 24 (Katholische Akademie) in Berlin. All concerts will be performed by PHØNIX16 and conductor Timo Kreuser.
[Source: polmic.pl, dariuszprzybylski.eu, trojca.waw.pl]
IMiT COMPOSERS-IN-RESIDENCE FOR 2013 The winners of the 3rd edition of the Institute of Music and Dance [IMiT] Music Department’s Composer-in-Residence Program were announced on February 28, 2013. Aimed at composers who are 40 years old or younger and professional orchestras and choir ensembles in Poland, this Program refers to a common international practice of linking artists with professional music institutions. Through the Program, new works are commissioned and premiered, and other pieces of the selected artist are presented during the artistic season of the applicant institution. The readiness to take part in the program is declared jointly by the composer and the orchestra/choir ensemble. The projects awarded for the 2013/2014 season are:
Filharmonia Gorzowska / Tomasz Jakub Opałka
Prof. Jan Szyrocki Academic Choir
Sinfonia Juventus Polish Orchestra / Ignacy Zalewski The Composer-in-Residence Program aims to promote contemporary Polish composers, giving them the opportunity to become known and invade the listener’s consciousness by presenting their works systematically. Thanks to this program and the financial support offered by IMIT to reduce the cost of presenting the newest music, the presence of contemporary music in the repertoire of Polish concert institutions will increase. The 1st and 2nd editions of the Composer-in Residence Program resulted in seven residences: Łódź Philharmonic (Andrzej Kwieciński), Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra (Maciej Zieliński), Radom Chamber Orchestra (Przemysław Zych), Polish Radio Amadeus Chamber Orchestra (Barbara Kaszuba), Witold Lutosławski Płock Symphony Orchestra (Zuzanna Niedzielak), Oskar Kolberg Philharmonic in Kielce (Bartosz Kowalski) and Toruń Symphony Orchestra (Jędrzej Rochecki). [Sources: imit.org.pl, imit.org.pl]
KOMOROWSKI CONGRATULATES WIT
From the website of the National Philharmonic in Warsaw:
[Source: press release via filharmonia.pl]
PODLEŚ: NEW BOOK AND CONCERT
On February 22, the National Opera-Grand Theater in Warsaw hosted a gala concert celebrating the launch of a book about the singer Ewa Podleś. Written by Brigitte Cormier and published by PWM, Ewa Podleś. Contralto assoluto is a publication that presents the artistic and private life of one of the greatest Polish opera singers in a very accessible way. It is an unusual book about an exceptional woman endowed with a unique gift: a contralto voice. Brigitte Cormier’s book is a special biography, showing the opera-concert world from the inside through the eyes of two outstanding musicians: Ewa Podleś and her husband, pianist Jerzy Marchwiński (pictured below). Their story is spiced up with unique photographs and numerous press reviews, and a collection of interesting stories related to opera performances around the world. It is full of anecdotes about famous singers and conductors, entertaining family and professional situations, but also descriptions of a hard struggle against adversity. This book will delight both opera lovers as well as anyone who wants to get acquainted with the demanding, but also very interesting work of the artist-singer.
The book launch gala concert held at the Grand Theater in Warsaw featured Podleś as well as the Choir and Orchestra of the Grand Theatre-National Opera conducted by Michael Güttler, performing works by Händel, Rossini, Donizetti, Tchaikovski, and Verdi. Brigitte Cormier left the Sorbonne to devote herself to acting, playing both classical plays and avant-garde repertoire. After a seven-year stay in the United States, she returned to Paris, where she took up editing and translation. As her passion is publishing books and photography, she founded an agency for communication and focused its activities in various fields of culture. Since 2004 she is part of the editorial team of forumopera.com, an online magazine devoted to opera. Brigitte Cormier has long dreamed of writing a biography of a famous artist. The inspiration came suddenly, when she encountered the unique voice and personality of singer Ewa Podleś. This book is translated and adapted from the French and is the fruit of five years of research, interviews and many trips. The French edition of the book will be released in 2013, published by Symétrie. [Source: pwm.com.pl]
GREIVE: WIENIAWSKI ARTICLE & SZYMANOWSKI PERFORMANCE
Greive’s November faculty recital and other related performances also included the Air Varies No. 2 for violin and cello by violinist-composer August Duranowski (c.1770-1834), which he performed with his cellist-wife Janet; Karol Szymanowski’s Sonata in D minor, op. 9 and Grażyna Bacewicz’s Three Dances with pianist Ted Reinke; and Anton Rubinstein-Henryk Wieniawski’s Romance in E-flat Major, op. 44, no. 1 and Zygmunt Noskowski’s Melody, op. 21, no. 1 with pianist Martha Fischer. Greive will be soloist in Karol Szymanowski’s Violin Concerto No. 2 with the University of Wisconsin-Madison Symphony Orchestra in a free performance on Friday night, May 3, 8:00 pm in Mills Hall on the UW-Madison campus. The program will be repeated in a ticketed performance the next night (Saturday, May 4, 7:00 pm) at the River Arts Center in Prairie du Sac, WI. These concerts will be Greive’s final performances in a full-time UW-Madison role since he is officially retiring from the faculty at the end of this spring term. [Source: press release]
TROCHIMCZYK FOLK DANCE ARTICLE IN COSMOPOLITAN REVIEW
One of the articles in this latest edition of CR is an incisive study of the Polish-American love of folk dancing and of Mazowsze—one of the world’s best dance troupes—and its not entirely benign origins. Entitled “Created by Stalin, Embraced by Emigrants? Mazowsze, Śląsk and the Polish Folk Dance Movement in America,” this article is written by the former director of the PMC, Maja Trochimczyk. [Sources: press release, cosmopolitanreview.com]
PADEREWSKI SCHOLARSHIP FUND APPEAL The Paderewski Scholarship Fund—which annually sponsors a Polish college student to come to Georgetown University for a semester to study American style democracy—has announced its 2013 fundraising drive. Below is information taken from the Paderewski Scholarship website, describing its origins and purpose: Although well known as a pianist and composer, Ignacy Paderewski is not sufficiently recognized as the father of modern Poland. Had it not been for Paderewski's drafting of the 13th Point for the Versailles Treaty, there might not be a free democratic Poland today. He not only succeeded in getting the 13th Point into the Versailles Peace Treaty agenda, but also convinced Clemenceau, Lloyd George and Orlando to back the resurrection of Poland.
The Paderewski Scholarship Fund has partnered with The Fund for American Studies (TFAS) and Georgetown University in order to expose aspiring Polish leaders to American political, business and academic culture. Since 1967, TFAS has educated young people from around the world in leadership and in free-market economy. [Sources: press release, paderewskischolarship.org]
AMERICAN PADEREWSKI PIANO COMPETITION
The competition will consist of two stages. During the First Stage, pianists’ repertoire must include one or more pieces by I. J. Paderewski, chosen from the following: Cracovienne Fantastique Op.14 No.6, Intermezzo Pollaca Op.14 No. 5, or KrakowiakOp.9 No.1, plus a free choice of repertoire up to the time limit (25-30 minutes). Repertoire for the Second Stage is free choice (50-55 minutes), but the program from the first stage must not be repeated. Prizes include:
Applications must be received by March 15th, 2013. For application form and additional instructions please visit: www.ijpaderewski.org [Source: ijpaderewski.org]
NEWAUD WORKSHOPS
Recognizing that contemporary music is characterized by a quest to meet its audience in new ways, NewAud is an international learning and experience project, offering its knowledge to everyone with an interest in audience development. The goal of NewAud is to test and demonstrate the future concert forms of contemporary music in a direct cooperation between 31 music ensembles in 17 countries. For two years these 31 musical ensembles will work together across borders on the many challenges that new concert forms offers. The NewAud project is strongly supported by the Polish Composers' Union and Polish Music Information Centre in Warsaw. Following on the success of the first NewAud concert in November 2012, NewAud is hosting a series of workshops from March 5-22 in London. For these workshops, the 31 participating NewAud ensembles are clustering into the following smaller working groups: Youth Group (concerning youth participation and outreach), Social Group (concerning social aspects of concert-going), Ditching Groups 1 & 2 (concerning ways to break out of the traditional concert hall), and Artmix Group (concerning mixing contemporary music with other forms of art). These 5 working groups will participate in 8-hour workshops on their respective topics, featuring guest speakers, case examples, research overview, and hours of good discussions. [Sources: polmic.pl, newaud.eu]
THORNTON FACULTY PERFORM LUTOSŁAWSKI IN CANADA
[Source: Thornton School of Music Newsletter]
AT KF IN NY The song won't let you forget
For a full biography, visit www.MagdalenaBaczewska.com.
[Source: press release, thekf.org]
AT KF IN D.C.
Originally from Warsaw, Poland, Sarnecki is a composer currently living in New York. He started to gain recognition after his success at the "International Jazz Guitar Competition - Guitar City 2002" in Warsaw where he received the 1st award. When he moved to the U.S. in 2005 he was already recognized in Poland as one of the most creative and fresh sounding musicians of the younger generation. In 2005 he received a scholarship at the prestigious Jazz and Contemporary Music program at the New School University in Manhattan. In 2008 he finished his undergraduate degree from The New School with Academic Honors. In 2010 he received his MA degree from the Aaron Copland School of Music also in New York. For a full biography, visit rafalsarnecki.com
[Source: thekf.org]
POLISH ORGAN MUSIC IN D.C.
Born in Tomaszów Lubelski, Poland, Marek Kudlicki studied organ and conducting in Kraków and Vienna. Kudlicki won the First Prize (and the Special Prize of the Polish Ministry of Culture and Art) in the Organ Competition in Poland in 1973. He has given concerts in almost all of the European countries and many times in the USA and Canada (46 North American tours), as well as in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Colombia, Argentina, Mexico, Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore and Taiwan. His annual coast to coast North American tours are greeted with enthusiasm. Marek Kudlicki regularly promotes Polish organ music in his programs. He routinely includes works of Polish composers from all periods in his recitals and his recordings.
[Sources: press release, nationalcathedral.org, Image: commons.wikimedia.org]
CHOPIN FDN CONCERTS IN MARCH
Also in March, the next installment in the Membership Concert Series of the Chopin Foundation of the United States will feature pianist Mei-Ting Sun, winner of the 2005 National Chopin Competition. These salon-style concerts are followed by a wine reception and post-concert dinner with wine.
More information is available at chopin.org. [Source: press release]
POLES AT CURTIS INST. OF MUSIC
Paul Krzywicki is a member of the tuba faculty at the Curtis Institute of Music since 1972 was a member of the Philadelphia Orchestra from 1972 until his retirement in 2005. For a full bio, visit www.curtis.edu.
[Source: press release] |
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AWARDS |
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MUSICA SACRA – WINNERS
[Sources: press release, competition.waw.pl]
FINALISTS IN THE LUTOSŁAWSKI CELLO COMPETITION
Special Prizes for the best performance of:
Award of the European Union of Music Competitions for Youth (EMCY): Chiara ENDERLE Prizes for accompanists were also awarded to: Agnieszka KOZŁO (Poland), Dominik ZABŁOCKI (Poland), Magdalena BOJANOWICZ (Poland) and Mikołaj PAŁOSZ (Poland). In the final stage of the Competition, laureates joined the Warsaw National Philharmonic under the baton of young conductor Rafał Janiak to perform the cello concertos of Lutosławski (Płociński), Schumann (Enderle) and Haydn (King and García García). In addition to all of Lutosławski’s works for cello, in earlier stages of the competition participants also performed works by Krzysztof Penderecki, Fryderyk Chopin, Jerzy Bauer, Paweł Szymański, Weronika Ratusińska-Zamuszko, Benjamin Britten, Alfred Schnittke, and Ludwig van Beethoven. For more information and gallery of laureate photos, please visit www.lutoslawski-cello.art.pl. [Sources: polmic.pl, lutoslawski-cello.art.pl, lutoslawski.culture.pl]
HONORARY TITLE FOR J. DRZEWIECKI
Although the Lviv Academy boasts a nearly 130-year tradition, dating back to its first rector, Xaver Mozart, the University confers honorary titles very rarely—last year, an honorable mention was given to violist Yuri Bashmet. [Sources: polmic.pl, interpiano.pl, culture.pl]
ANDERSZEWSKI NOMINATED TO GRAMOPHONE HALL OF FAME
Polish-Hungarian pianist Piotr Anderszewski (b. April 4, 1969) has been nominated to Gramphone Magazine’s Hall of Fame. Launched in 2012, the Gramophone Hall of Fame honors artists, producers, and record executives who, through their talent, innovation and dedication, have changed the shape of, and forever enriched, the history of classical music recording. If elected, Anderszewski would join such other great pianists as Martha ARGERICH, Claudio ARRAU, Daniel BARENBOIM, Alfred BRENDEL, Glenn GOULD, Vladimir HOROWITZ, LANG LANG, Murray PERAHIA, Maurizio POLLINI, Sviatoslav RICHTER and Arthur RUBINSTEIN. Having welcomed 50 names last year, in Gramophone’s 90th year, the magazine has opened online voting to help choose a further select group of entrants for 2013. To vote, select up to ten nominees from this list, spreading your 10 votes across the different categories as you wish. [Source: gramophone.co.uk]
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DISCOGRAPHY |
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ARS NOVA RECORDING OF CYPRIAN BAZYLIK
* PREMIERE RECORDINGS The early music ensemble Ars Nova has previously recorded the complete works of Mikołaj of Radom, Piotr of Grudziądz, and Sebastian Klonowica, documenting the earliest important monuments of Polish music. Crowning 30 years of creative activity, Ars Nova’s most recent edition is a recording of the songs of Cyprian Bazylik. It was recorded in the town of Sieradz, where Cyprian Bazylik was born. Cyprian Bazylik’s work is considered to be very important in the history of Polish music. His 4-voice songs are of beauty and quality equal to that of mainstream Western Renaissance music. Bazylik worked as a musician at the court of King Zygmunt II Augustus and belonged to the elite of Polish culture. Amongst the 15 recorded songs are 4 recording premieres. This CD has been nominated for a 2013 Fryderyk Award. [Source: polmic.pl]
PREMIERE RECORDINGS ON ACTE PRÉALABLE
Notes from the Acte Préalable website:
[Source: acteprealable.com]
CD REVIEW/PERSONALITY PROFILE
Eri Iwamoto shows special sensitivity in her performances of Szymanowski’s piano works. She is perhaps one of the leading proponents of piano music of Polish composers from a foreign nation other than Poland. Eri Iwamoto was born in Nara, Japan. She started playing piano at age 3. Syzmanowski started playing piano at age 7. She graduated from Soai University in Osaka, Fryderyk Chopin Academy of Music in Warsaw (now the Chopin University of Music), Hochshule der Künste in Bern, and Conservatoire de Musique in Geneve. In 2007, she received a Soloist Diploma from the Academy of Music in Basel. She next went on to further her studies at the Conservatoria di Musica in Verona. During 2001, Iwamoto was given a Grand Prix at the Ninth Milosz Magin International Piano Competition in Paris and in 2005 a prize for the best performance of a work by Karol Szymanowski at the Sixth Karol Szymanowski International Competition in Łódź. Eri Iwamoto gives concert performances internationally in Italy, France, Switzerland, Portugal, Poland and Japan. She has appeared at the Yehudi Menuhin Festival in Gstaad, Switzerland, Viana do Castelo Music Festival in Portugal, Schubert Festival in Italy and Lato z Chopinem [Summer with Chopin] Festival in Busko-Zdrój, Poland. She had the opportunity to work with the following pedagogues: Barbara Hesse-Bukowska, Maciej Piotrkowski, Virginio Pavarana, Fillipo Gamba, Tomasz Herbut, Sumiko Tsujimoto, and Kumito Hata. Iwamoto has also taken part in master classes organized by Piotr Anderszewski, Andrezj Jasinski and Fou T'song. When asked about her love of Polish piano music especially that of Symanowski she describes in detail her first and lasting impression of this composer:
Artur Rubenstein, the great Polish pianist would surely agree with Iwamoto's assessment and deep admiration for Szymanowski. From the very outset, he developed a close connection with the piano music of Szymanowski. Clearly, when he himself first discovered and encountered the Op. 1 Preludes by a then virtually unknown Polish composer, he also felt the magic of the music and himself was entranced by its qualities. Rubenstein recalls in his memoirs "It is impossible to describe our amazement after playing the first few bars of the Prelude. That music was written by a master! We hastily ran through all the manuscripts while our enthusiasm and excitement rose as we realized that we were discovering a great Polish composer." Iwamoto immersed herself in the study of not only Szymanowski's musical language but the Polish language to fully and truly comprehend his essence, which has clearly found its way to this archival sound recording. It is compelling and fascinating. She adds boastfully, "I would be quite happy if it helped further dissemination of the great composer's music." Szymanowski displays a rare gift at the heart and foundation of his compositions. Eri Iwamoto brings her clear and demonstrative understanding of this gift to life through her concert performances and this CD.
[Source: geocities.jp, acteprealable.com]
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FESTIVALS |
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2013 BEETHOVEN FESTIVAL
The 2013 Festival will feature over 20 concerts in Warsaw and in several other Polish cities. It will welcome internationally renowned chamber ensembles that seldom visit Poland, including the Belcea Quartet, the Artis Quartet, and the Tokyo String Quartet, which will present works by Haydn, Schubert, Verdi and Bartók in addition to compositions by the festival’s patron. For a full program of concerts, please visit: www.beethoven.org.pl. [Source: beethoven.org.pl] |
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PERFORMANCES |
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POLISH SHOFAR TRIO IN L.A. Los Angeles’ Little Tokyo neighborhood was the place to listen to great Polish jazz musicians who demonstrate a passion for Jewish music when, on February 27, the Blue Whale jazz club and art gallery played host to the Shofar Trio.
A shofar (Hebrew: שׁוֹפָר) is a horn, traditionally that of a ram, used for Jewish religious purposes. Shofar-blowing is incorporated in synagogue services on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. Shofar come in a variety of sizes. Hear the blasts...tekiyah...shevarim...teruah. Shofar's founder Raphael Roginski was born in Frankfurt am Main, Germany and began playing electric guitar at the age of 13. He received both jazz and classical musical training and supplemented his education with studies of musicology and ethnomusicology. Since his earliest creative pursuits his main focus has been on jazz-influenced improvisation and folk music. As a composer and performer, he feels a powerful connection to Jewish culture and strives to include it in his work with his two bands, SHOFAR and CUKUNFT. Roginski has collaborated with many established musicians in Poland and abroad, including Noel Akchote, Frederic Blondy, Joe Giardullo, Axel Dorner, Thomas Lehn, Andrew Sharpley, John Edwards, John Tilbury, Brigit Ulher, Yale Strom, Macio Moretti, Patryk Zakrocki, Tomasz Gwincinski, Daniel Pigonski, Konstanty Usenko, Vadim O. Pavluk, Ryszard Latecki. He was a guest artist on such albums as Djazzpora, Sztetlach, Broniewski, and Meritum. Mikołaj Trzaska was born in Gdańsk, Poland. He is saxophonist, bass clarinetist, composer, and one of the founders of "yass" - a combination of new wave, free jazz, modern rock, and poetry that spawned a socio-artistic movement in the 1980s and 90s, opposing what the participants saw as the rigidity of the Polish jazz environment. Together with Tymon Tymański and a group of other musicians free from any fixed doctrine, they changed the image of Polish jazz music. Trzaska was the co-founder of the most important yass group - "Miłość" [Love] and the similarly creative "Łoskot" [Clatter]. Although the impetus of yass faded away many years ago, Trzaska became the leader of the national improvised-music scene and recorded a few concentrated and quiet albums with the Oleś brothers. He also accompanied poets such as Świetlicki and Andrukhovych, and created musical-literary projects with Andrzej Stasiuk. Today he is the leader of the international quartet INNER EAR, danish trio Volumen and a member of, among others, Resonance of Ken Vandermark, Magic - Joe McPhee, and the Shofar trio. Above all he sees himself in the mode of radical contemporary free jazz. He travels around the world cooperating with personalities of world improvisation among such as: Peter Brötzmann, Joe McPhee, Ken Vandermark, Peter Friis Nielsen, Clementine Gasser, Pete Ole Jorgensen, Michael Zerang, Franz Houtzinger, Jay Rosen, Domik Duval, and Mark Sanders. He has recorded about thirty albums. Macio Moretti is a performer, composer, producer, vocalist and multi-instrumentalist. He started his musical career as bass guitarist with SLAGE IMAGE/KROLOWIE ZYCIA; now he plays drums as a member of STARZY SINGERS and BAABA. His broad spectrum of musical interests covers such diverse areas as grind/punk, twisted country-and-western, improv, psychedelic and pseudojazz. He is a cofounder of the independent music labels Lado ABC and Zgnile Meiso Rekords. In 2010, Moretti received the “Passport” Award from influential Polish news weekly, Polityka. He has a successful second career in graphic design, working for publications such as Przekrój, one of the country's oldest and most respected magazines. The Shofar Trio tour began February 21st in New York City at Lincoln Center followed by appearances and concerts at the Heaven Gallery and Hungary Brain in Chicago, 2013 Chutzpah! Festival in Vancouver, Royal Room in Seattle, Blue Whale in Los Angeles, 28th Jewish Musical Festival in Berkeley and concluding concert at the Blue Monk in Portland on March 3rd. The energy exuded during the concert was electrifying and energetic—the Shofar trio not only lit up Litttle Tokyo but all L.A. and may have extended all the way to Poland. Absolutely amazing and awesome.
[Sources: polishculture-nyc.org, jewishmusicfestival.org] |
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ANNIVERSARIES |
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to PMC Home Page PMC Newsletter Archive
Copyright 2013 by the Polish Music Center
Send your comments and inquiries to: polmusic@thornton.usc.edu
Newsletter Editor: Krysta Close
Layout Assistance: Charles Bragg
Translation Assistance: Marek Żebrowski, Maria Peryt
Contributions from:
Marek Żebrowski, Joseph A. Herter, , Tyrone Greive, Gary Fitelberg
Sources of information: Polish Cultural Institute (NY & UK), Adam Mickiewicz Institute,
PWM,
Nowy Dziennik,
Polish Music Information Centre - Warsaw, Polish American Journal,
Poland.pl,
PAP,
ZKP, infochopin.pl, Ruch Muzyczny, Gazeta Wyborcza
Formatting by Krysta Close, March 12, 2013
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The Thornton School of Music at the University of Southern California holds an annual Concerto Competition, to celebrate the fine soloists who are a part of the student body. Amongst the winners of the 2012 Competition is cellist 
In the third part of the series “Virgins, Scatterbrains, Vamps and Queens,” Piotr Deptuch depicts the profiles of the operatic femme fatale. On the bicentenary of Verdi’s and Wagner’s birthdays, he also writes about what the two composers have in common and what makes them different. Jacek Marczyński makes a ranking of the most frequently staged 20th-century operas. The Deutsche Grammophon album series for beginners and advanced music lovers is discussed by Maciej Ł. Gołębiowski. Adam Suprynowicz recommends new recordings of the Belcea Quartet (Beethoven) and Marc Minkowski (Schubert’s symphonies), and Paweł Szczepanik a new biography of Igor Stravinsky.
Witold Lutosławski - In memoriam
As a part of the 
Continuing the
On March 21, Esa-Pekka Salonen conducts the final concert in the London series, which this time pairs Lutosławski’s Symphony No.4 with works by Ravel. The concert features soloists Jennifer Koh – violin and Matthias Goerne – baritone.
The Clore Ballroom at Royal Festival Hall will also host a special late-night, post-concert free event featuring contemporary Polish music group 
A piano recital celebrating the centenary of Witold Lutosławski’s birth will feature internationally renowned jazz pianist, 
On March 8, 2013, in the 
Ewa Podleś. Contralto assoluto
Tyrone Greive
Online since 2008, the 
The Paderewski Scholarship was established by General 
On Sunday, March 3, USC Thornton School of Music piano faculty members 
"The song won't let you forget"
Jazz guitarist 
The Embassy of the Republic of Poland and 
Paul Krzywicki
On February 15, 2013 in Częstochowa, Poland, the Jury of the 9th 
On February 28, the final stage of the 2013 Lutosławski Cello Competition was held in Warsaw. One of the few competitions in the world for young cellists, the competition is open to musicians under the age of 24 years. This year’s finalists were: 
On February 11, at the closing gala of the VIII International Piano Forum "Bieszczady bez granic" [Bieszczady (Mountains) without borders] at the Lviv Philharmonic, His Magnificence Rector Igor Pylatyuk of the M.Lysenki National Academy of Music in Lviv bestowed the title of Professoris Honoris Causa upon Polish pianist and pedagogue 
Bazylik Cyprian: Complete Works
Władysław Żeleński: Complete Works for Violin and Piano
Ludomir Różycki: Chamber works with piano 
Aleksander Tansman : Pour les enfants
Eri Iwamoto: Szymanowski - Piano Works
The 17th 
Formed in 2006, the Shofar Trio (right) —guitarist Raphael Rogiński, saxophonist and bass clarinet player Mikołaj Trzaska and drummer Macio Moretti—joins traditional Jewish music with contemporary avant-jazz and rock. The Poland-based band released its debut album in 2007, featuring works based on the first compendium of Hassidic melodies from the Ukraine, Poland and Moldova compiled by early 20th-century Soviet musicologist Moshe Beregovsky (1892-1961). Over the past five years, the group has performed throughout Europe. The concert will feature the trio’s innovative interpretations of nigunim, or religious songs (meant to induce a state of religious ecstasy), more dancelike freylakhs, and Jewish liturgical music. 