NOSPR / Alsop / Requiem as a tribute

Date & Time

Thu, Mar 27, 2025, 19:30

Venue

Narodowej Orkiestry Symfonicznej Polskiego Radia, Concert Hall (Katowice)

“It is with greatest ease and willingness that I am working on this Concerto and, nota bene, I feel that this is going to be a first-class trick” – these words from a letter by Karol Szymanowski are proof of how important the Symphony No. 4 was for the composer. It was his unfulfilled dream of a “true” piano concerto. One of a pianistic tour de force, the first sketches of which he dropped to focus on the Stabat Mater... Read full text

Keywords: Subscription Concert, Symphony Concert, Vocal Music

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Musicians

Marin Alsop	Conductor
NOSPR
NFM Choir
Lionel Sow	NFM Choir Art Director
Pierre-Louis de Laporte	Choir preparation
Erica Eloff	Soprano
Ben McAteer	Bariton
Szymon Nehring	Piano
Zuzanna Nalewajek	Alto

Program

Grażyna Bacewicz	Suite for a symphony orchestra
Karol Szymanowski	Symphony No. 4 (Symphonie concertante) for piano and orchestra, Op. 60
Krzysztof Penderecki	Chaconne
Karol Szymanowski	Stabat Mater, Op. 53

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Last update: Sat, Mar 8, 2025, 21:28

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This month

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Narodowej Orkiestry Symfonicznej Polskiego Radia, Concert Hall (Katowice)

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Fri, Jan 17, 2025, 19:30

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Thu, Jan 30, 2025, 19:30

Narodowej Orkiestry Symfonicznej Polskiego Radia, Concert Hall (Katowice)

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The Belgian creator, pedagogue and organ virtuoso, Joseph Jongen, describes his 1926 composition as follows: „The Symphonie c oncertante is not an organ concerto, but rather an orchestral work in which the organ is another orchestra that takes the leading role it rightly deserves. There is no thematic or rhythmic connection between the four movements of this extensive work; the focus is set on the stylistic unity of the different movements.” His friend, Eugène Ysaÿe, also pointed out the richness of the sounds of the organ, which creates an impression of coming into contact with “a second orchestra”. Nevertheless, the beginnings of what became one of the most interesting works in the 20th-century organ repertoire (also recorded by Karol Mossakowski) were not easy: commissioned by Rodman Wanamaker, the owner of a famous department store in Philadelphia, the piece needed to wait two years to be premiered, due to a series of unfortunate events including the death of Jongen’s father.Dramatic in its expression, Antonin Dvořák’s Symphony No. 7. in D minor was also a result of a commission, this time one from Royal Philharmonic Society in London which had just awarded him with honorary membership. During the 1885 premiere of the work, Dvořák stood at the conductor’s podium himself. The event was described by leading musical magazines and a critic writing for the „Athenaeum” daily noted the following: “We are inclined on a first hearing to place this new symphony even above those of Brahms, which it equals in masterly treatment and exquisite instrumentation while it surpasses them in spontaneity of invention.”Agnieszka Nowok-ZychConcert duration (intermission included): approximately 100 minutes

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Next month

In Katowice

Katowice Culture Nature Festival / The Gardens of Goodbyes / NOSPR / Alsop / Mahler

Thu, May 8, 2025, 19:30

Narodowej Orkiestry Symfonicznej Polskiego Radia, Concert Hall (Katowice)

Marin Alsop (Conductor), NOSPR, Stuart Skelton (Tenor), Rinat Shaham (Alto)

Having composed his gigantic Symphony No. 8 – crowned with the Goethean vision of the afterworld, in which Faust’s soul, seeking salvation, is wandering among other spiritual beings – in his next work, Mahler reached for texts by classical Chinese poets translated by Hans Bethge. These present a diametrically different perspective: instead of the heavens, their gaze is directed towards the Earth.The Song of the Earth is, in a way, a symphony of songs performed by, alternatively, a tenor and an alto voice, accompanied by the orchestra. Mahler constructs scales, on which he places the woes and joys of human life, troubled by the menace of death, yet replete with wonder at the beauty of nature and the works of human hands. In the final movement – titled The Farewell and lasting as long as the previous five altogether – the kaleidoscope of the lights and shadows of human fate is shown from the perspective of a person bidding both their friend and the world farewell. Looking back at their life, they soberly conclude that it was devoid of happiness. And yet, the farewell takes place in a bright, spring-like aura and in a tone of coming to terms with fate. The one who is passing away finds solace in the image of nature’s eternal renewal. The verdict is a comforting one: despite all else, life was worth living. Mahler’s music reaches heights of subtlety, delicateness and timelessness. Marcin Trzęsiok

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Finished

NOSPR / Zagrosek / Mahler’s happiest symphony

Thu, Apr 10, 2025, 19:30

Narodowej Orkiestry Symfonicznej Polskiego Radia, Concert Hall (Katowice)

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