AUKSO / A film fantasy

AUKSO x Warszawska Orkiestra Sentymentalna

Do you feel sentimental about Warsaw? Today's capital is a genuine megacity that attracts business opportunities and a cosmopolitan atmosphere. However, there are some backstreets in which there are still echoes of a different Warsaw – a pre-war capital of elegance, full of revues and cabarets, dancing to the songs of Mieczysław Fogg and Henryk Wars. This image of the city will emerge during the AUKSO concert, featuring the guest participation of Warszawska Orkiestra Sentymentalna. The sound of the AUKSO strings will be enriched by instruments typical of the 1920s and 1930s urban music, such as the mandolin, accordion, flugelhorn, and baraban. We warmly invite you to a sentimental journey to the inter-war years, full of melodies we know well, although sometimes we don't even quite know from where exactly! Szymon Maliszewski Concert duration: approximately 100 minutes

AUKSO x Marcin Masecki

We won't judge – going to this concert, do you want to listen to Mozart or Masecki more? Marcin Masecki is well-known to audiences of many musical genres. He owes his popularity to such projects as Jazz Band Młynarski-Masecki or his collaboration with the majority of artists on the Polish jazz and pop scene, including Tomasz Stańko, Michał Urbaniak, Wojciech Waglewski, or Reni Jusis. The artist regularly surprises audiences with further experiments that are head-turning for some and a delight for others. At a recent concert for the Polish Radio Orchestra's season finale, Masecki was to perform Beethoven's Fifth Piano Concerto. Asked just before he went on stage whether he intended to play 'normally or his way', he replied that this remains to be seen. Is there a place for jazz improvisations in Mozart concertos? Will Marcin Masecki make another joke this time and, to everyone's surprise, play by the book? Looking only at the event programme, it is not entirely clear what to expect. This is a concert you have to attend! Szymon MaliszewskiConcert duration: approximately 80 minutes

Kammerorchester Basel/ René Jacobs/ Papa Haydn

René Jacobs is one of the more electrifying figures in the early music circles. For those who do not follow the ideological battles of fans of historical performance practices daily, it may seem surprising how much excitement some of the Belgian conductor and singer's productions generate. In half a century of artistic activity, Jacobs has been one of the main protagonists of the early music renaissance. At first, as an excellent countertenor, he specialised in recordings of forgotten works and took part in many enthusiastically received interpretations of works by Bach or Mozart. For Jacobs as a conductor, historical treatises and knowledge of past practices can sometimes be the starting point for getting carried away with the free play of the imagination. For some, these ideas are too bold, while in the opinion of others, they make his interpretations closer to contemporary audiences. How will it be with Haydn's two comparatively different works? The E minor Symphony took its name, Mourning, from the composer's alleged request that the slow movement be performed at his funeral. However, there is no evidence that it was played at either the funeral or other memorial services for the artist. The Missa Cellensis in honorem Beatissimae Virginis Mariae, also known as the Cecilian Mass, is one of two works (or actually three) written for the Abbey of Mariazell, one of the most important pilgrimage points in Austria. The first version of the Mass, composed in 1766, was destroyed in a fire. Therefore, seven years later, Haydn reconstructed the entire work from memory and expanded it into the shape it is known today. Szymon Maliszewski Concert duration (intermission included): approximately 120 minutes

Amsterdam Sinfonietta / Candida Thompson / Bruce Liu

This is a moment everyone has been waiting for – Bruce Liu returns to NOSPR!In 2021, several days after his spectacular triumph in the 18th Chopin Competition, Bruce Liu gained 1,800 new fans as soon as he stepped onto the NOSPR stage (more people did not manage to enter the hall, even though, as we can remember, they tried!). Nevertheless, if we take into account the 300,000 online broadcast viewers, we can say that the concert sealed the Canadian pianist’s superstar status.Back then, Bruce Liu performed the Piano Concerto No. 1 in E-minor, with which he had won the competition. This time, we are going to hear the second one of Chopin’s concertos – the one in the key of F-minor. Both in the Concerto and in the Andante spianato et grande polonaise brillante in E-flat major, the latter to open the evening, he will be accompanied by theAmsterdam Sinfonietta, led by Candida Thompson. You might also remember these artists from NOSPR posters: in 2020, the ensemble and its leader were to accompany the Jussen brothers, but their performance was cancelled due to the pandemic.In the April concert, the Dutch orchestra will also present Tchaikovsky’s Souvenir de Florence and Mieczysław Weinberg’s deeply moving Aria. It will be a truly unique evening!Szymon MaliszewskiConcert duration (intermission included): approximately 120 minutes

NOSPR / Bleuse / Mossakowski / A concerto for a thousand pipes

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 60 minutes

A homage to love

A homage to love

A homage to love

The famous Serenade from Miloš Forman’s film

Large wind instrument ensembles saw their triumphs in the 18th century. Pieces called serenades were often written for them and performed to make social gatherings and dinners more pleasant, usually around 9pm. Leopold Mozart, father of Wolfgang Amadeus, wrote more than 30 such serenades. However, it was his son who achieved mastery in their composition. Gran Partita is a work of massive proportions, full of charm, delightful instrumental combinations and lovely harmonies. In Peter Shaffer's play Amadeus (and Miloš Forman's film of the same title), Salieri first grasps the genius of Mozart by listening to this very piece as he feels the boundless longing with which it is filled. When writing his Serenade for wind instruments almost a century later, Antonín Dvořák was impressed by Mozart's work, which the Adagio directly referred to in the third movement. His work combines a 'retro' style with enchantingly beautiful melodies, references to Czech folk music and a touch of romantic passion. Adam Suprynowicz Concert duration: approximately 100 minutes

Film: My Life as a Courgette

The film »Ma vie de Courgette« (My Life as a Courgette) about little Icare begins in the dreariness of a failed family. It turns into an impressive story about a child’s ability to create substitute families. It is not least the light-hearted soundtrack by Sophie Hunger that gives the film its life-affirming atmosphere. Swiss animation filmmaker Claude Barras is known for his affectionate characterisation using stop-motion techniques. For »My Life as a Courgette«, he adapted a novel by Gilles Paris; the screenplay was written by French director Céline Sciamma. The orphanage drama about the power of childhood friendship premiered in Cannes in 2016 and was showered with awards. In her soundtrack, Sophie Hunger combines her love of rock music and sound experiments to create an atmospheric framework that perfectly accompanies the film. Sophie Hunger wrote her first film score for »The Friend« by Swiss director Micha Lewinski back in 2008. She has since worked on various soundtracks and was honoured with the »Des Notes et des Toiles« prize at the French festival and the German Television Award.