ConcertPulse
Cinematic Symphony on Organ / Buster Keaton
Narodowej Orkiestry Symfonicznej Polskiego Radia, Concert Hall (Katowice)
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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
Although today Antonio Vivaldi is best known for the Four Seasons, in the 18th century, the collection L'estro armonico became famous as one of the most influential instrumental pieces of music of the time. Published in 1711, the series of 12 concertos met with great acclaim, and the composer immediately became a significant figure on the international scene. The very accurate title also shows that the composer was aware of the momentous nature of the work. Undoubtedly, we are dealing with Vivaldi's brilliant vision. This is Vivaldi at his best: lively and brilliant, reaching for extended cantilenas, written with a wonderful sense of pure joy of music-making, spontaneity, a sense of mutual fun and ensemble play. When properly interpreted, the relentless and growing energy of these concertos is reminiscent of the morning sun wandering across a room – and this is precisely the kind of interpretation we can expect from Il Giardino Armonico and Isabelle Faust as soloist. Alexandra KozowiczConcert duration (intermission included): approximately 120 minutes
This is the essence of chamber musicianship – we play what we like. We play for pleasure - our own and that of our listeners. The idea of chamber music is summarised in the Italian term da camera, which means playing for a chamber, a room, or a small hall. It denotes semi-private, intimate music. It is lovely when such a mood is carried into the concert hall. Today, there is an opportunity to do so because we love the tunes we already know, and there are plenty of them here. Most listeners will recognise Sting's Roxanne, Satie's Gnosienne or Barber's Adagio. Exactly like in the programme Name That Tune, after two sounds, we will already know what's coming next. Concert hall goers, on the other hand, will once again be seduced by gripping Schubert's Andante or Arvo Pärt's Fratres. Lovers of cinematic melodramas will get a handful of John Williams tunes, while refined musical gourmets will get Glass's Mishima, Vasks' Meditation and Schnittke's waltz. Not a single note goes to waste here! Adam Suprynowicz
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
In 2022, when Tomeka Reid was granted the MacArthur Fellowship, also known as the “genius grant”, critics aware of her achievement had no doubt that the prestigious award was in the right hands. Reid’s cello parts have contributed to the sound of the flagship bands of the Chicago scene over the last two decades, since her 2002 debut with Nicole Mitchell. The artists’s quartet concept consists of three string instruments and drums – the very idea of such a composition of the star-studded band intriguing in itself. The quartet’s musicians are equally comfortable at post-bop gallop, in patulous blues, and in swinging ballad – creative reworkings of tradition being Reid’s composing specialty. Every piece is churning with ideas and energy (and sometimes even a sense of humour), all the bandmembers’ originality and propensity for free-jazz experiments making every second of the ensemble’s music worth of the listener’s attention. Tomasz Gregorczyk Concert duration: approximately 90 minutes
Stars up close! Today, Augustin Hadelich is a world-leading violinist who conquers the world's stages and performs with the best orchestras, including the NOSPR. He returns with a chamber programme, in duo with the versatile piano virtuoso Francesco Piemontesi. Their concert, which will be dominated by French music, is designed in a modern way. There is no shortage of the canon of violin music, represented by Franck's striking, emotional, late Romantic sonata and Debussy's subtle, intimate sonata. They are accompanied by a third, wonderfully melodic sonata by Francis Poulenc. Both predecessors will shine through, as Poulenc's sounds focus their qualities like a lens because our perception changes with the context. Old French music (by de Grigny and Rameau) will indicate the roots of the work of the masters from the Seine banks mentioned above. György Kurtág's handful of short musical gestures, meanwhile, will allow us to pause for a moment to take a fresh look at what we already know. Adam Suprynowicz Concert duration (intermission included): approximately 90 minutes
There are fascinating masterpieces that are still waiting to be discovered. Even if they have become classics in their genre. Such has been the fate of compositions by Charles Ives, which are still virtually absent from Poland. This might not be so surprising when we remember that it had also been half a century or more before it was premiered in his native country. As we have just celebrated the American genius’ 150th birth anniversary, it is high time we changed this! Eventually, the NOSPR concert hall will resound with the Symphony No. 2, a piece that is not only masterful, but also gripping – and at the same time, one the most unusual works in the history of music. In the late 19th and early 20th century, the German Symphonic tradition still remained the basic form of expression, particularly for the Americans, educated with European models. The young composer from New England, however, enhanced it with themes drawn from the local tradition, the developments and unexpected clashes of which presented in the consecutive movements blew up the conventional style, leading everything up to the spectacular final explosion. All that a decade ahead of Stravinsky and Bartók! The world premiere of the Symphony No.2, which presented Ives’ symphonic oeuvre to the world, was only prepared in 1959 by Leonard Bernstein. Three decades later, John Axelrod, the conductor of today’s concert, studied the piece with him.Axelrod also frequently works with the outstanding Turkish composer and pianist Fazıl Say. The very choice of solo instruments for his Concerto indicates an opportunity for showcasing the oriental exoticism and richness of the dynamic timbres of the percussion. The spectacular piece will be preceded by the famous Lullaby by George Gershwin.Jakub PuchalskiConcert duration (intermission included): approximately 90 minutes
The musical collective Young Power, led by Krzysztof Popek and Krzysztof Zawadzki, was one of the most important phenomena in young Polish jazz of the mid-1980s, attracting and nurturing the top of the jazz and rock scenes of the time, from Piotr Wojtasik and Ziut Gralak to Jerzy Piotrowski.The formation also recorded with Tomasz Stanko and Michal Urbaniak.In the spring of 1986, the Young Power big-band burst onto the stage of the “Jazz nad Odrą” Festival with the impetus of youth, generating enthusiasm not only from the audience, but also from critics. They sealed their success with an outstanding performance at the Jazz Jamboree in the fall, shortly after recording their first album.The band, which was never formally disbanded, returns to the NOSPR in a new, refreshed format: "Young Power New Edition". The 15-member ensemble is now half members of the former lineup and half young blood, ambitious artists. They are creating a generational, forward-looking change in Young Power's open art project, in keeping with its irrepressible spirit.It should be mentioned that in addition to former members such as Krzysztof Popek, Jorgos Skolias, Marcin Pospieszalski, Wlodek Kiniorski, the most talented musicians from the youngest jazz generation - Dawid Główczewski, Cyprian Baszynski, Adam Lemańczyk, Pawel Dobrowolski - are just a huge enrichment to this group.In the "Freedom Celebration" program, in addition to old compositions, we will also find new suites, characteristic of the band's sound, and therefore free jazz with elements of rock at its best.Kindly welcome to NOSPR for the Young Power project with special guests: Urszula Dudziak, Michał Urbaniak, Kuba Badach, and Marcin Wyrostek.
What if, on Valentine’s Day, we stopped worrying about being behind the times, and rejoiced in the spirit of bygone days?On 14th February, that special evening, the NOSPR concert hall will resound with melodies from the first talking movies, the unforgettable compositions by Jerzy Petersburski and Henryk Wars. There will be no dearth of hits we know from the characteristic interpretations by Mieczysław Fogg, Hanka Ordonówna and Adam Aston!The 1920s and 1930s were the golden era of Polish song and the music of the period brings to mind specific associations: elegance, humour and a nostalgic romanticism. The NOSPR stage will host excellent musicians and actors recreating the unique atmosphere of that time. Such pieces as Każdemu wolno kochać [Everyone’s allowed to love], Już nie zapomnisz mnie [No more will you forget me], Tango milonga and Umówiłem się z nią na dziewiątą [Got a date with her at nine], in charming new arrangements by Paweł Steczek, will be performed by the NOSPR chamber orchestra and guest artists, such as Dorota Miśkiewicz, Wojciech Myrczek, Dorota Segda and Cezary Żak. This will be an evening filled with various shades of love.On Valentine’s Day, indulge yourself in romantic nostalgia.Julia Broniowska
“Music is the expression of emotions and feelings. I hold as my ideal a piece in which poetic content is combined with excellence of musical craftmanship. Poetry alone does not determine the musical value of a piece, just as craftmanship alone risks falling into a pitfall of using worn-out formulas. Enduring beauty is only born from a balance of both” Andrzej Panufnik (1952) Silesian String Quartet – 45 years of experience, more than 150 first performances of chamber works, thousands of concerts in the world's most famous concert halls, more than 60 albums, more than 20 nominations, 10 ‘Fryderyk’ statuettes and the most important – the ‘musical Oscar’, i.e., the Gramophone Classical Music Award. The ensemble specialises in the discovery, promotion and recording of Polish music and is famous for its first performances under the guidance of composers. Ditching the traditional hierarchical model of performing music, the ensemble emphasises exchange and collaboration with other musicians. This season, the artists will introduce the work of Sir Andrzej Panufnik on the 110th anniversary of the birth of the only Polish composer to be awarded a title of nobility by Queen Elizabeth II. Composed in 1987, the sextet for strings was named Train of Thought by Andrzej Panufnik. However, the Polish title translation does not fully reflect the composer's intention. Indeed, his concept considers the ambiguity of the word 'train', which can mean both train as a means of locomotion and flow of thought. Hence, it has come to be accepted that the Polish title of this work can be roughly translated as The Flow of Thought. This composition was inspired by Panufnik's experiences during a train journey, the monotonous rhythm of which induced a train of thoughts. The piece's distinctive rhythmic element was based on the train wheels hitting the rails. Nevertheless, Panufnik's work differs significantly from Honegger's Pacific 2.3.1; instead, it presents a metaphor of picturesque and mysterious landscapes and thoughts passing through a person's mind, just as the ever-changing images seen from the windows of a train pass through. The programme will be complemented by works by native British composers Gustav Holst and Joseph Holbrooke. [Alexandra Kozowicz]Concert duration (intermission included): approximately 100 minutes
hoshii sessions is a unique blend of hip-hop and pop with modern jazz sounds, embodied by the band hoshii, led by saxophonist and producer Kuba Więcek. This event offers a one-of-a-kind opportunity to experience the spontaneous creative process live, where both artists and the audience become participants in something extraordinarily rare – the creation of music happening in real-time, directly on stage. This concert will be special as it marks the first hoshii sessions on a large stage with so many guest artists. The event continues the iconic series that the band initiated on YouTube, surprising listeners with a unique mix of various musical genres.hoshii is a group of strong musical personalities, where each member brings their own unique sound and is pushed out of their comfort zone to find common ground with the others.hoshii, which means "to desire" in Japanese, is the latest project created by Kuba Więcek, who returns to the jazz scene with new inspirations gathered from collaborations with leading figures in the hip-hop and alternative scenes. The band's music features thoughtfully crafted, carefully constructed beats by Kuba, which have been transformed into a jazz quartet and produced in a way that aims to redefine contemporary jazz. The band consists of: Grzegorz Tarwid – a pianist who studied with Kuba in Copenhagen, Max Mucha – a bassist known for working with Christian Scott, and Miłosz Berdzik – a drummer and recent graduate of the prestigious Berklee College of Music.Concert duration: approximately 90 minutesThe event is organized by https://www.wagart.eu/
When the cicadas start their evening concert, the world is filled with sound, and so it is with the British band. They are masters of arranging space, centred around bass guitar, drums and keyboards combined with electronics, creators of a dense but not overpowering sound, enthusiasts of musical ideas from which fire, heat, and, as they claim, wildness emanate. They are said to be the new wave of jazz-rock as they return to Jamaican rhythms, electronic soundscapes, the groove of hip-hop and the danceable beat of the drums. At times, Cykada can be raw, but on the other hand, it combines dance with the improvisation and freedom typical of jazz. It is a fusion unique in its league, balancing on the edge of genres. Maria Wilczek-Krupa Concert duration: approximately 90 minutes
It promises to be a remarkable expedition in directions not obvious for chamber music. Spanish music enjoyed a heyday of national style at the turn of the 20th century. We are familiar in Poland with works by de Falla, Albéniz or Granados from this repertoire. Turina, on the other hand, is mainly associated with guitar music lovers. In the mellifluous Piano Quartet op. 67, he combines catchy Spanish themes with classical form, characteristic simplicity and serenity. The music of the eminent Latvian composer Pēteris Vasks is characterised by a meditative tone famous in this part of Europe. His Piano Quartet will unite lovers of classical harmonies with those seeking more contemporary forms of expression. Danny Elfman's quartet, meanwhile, will add to this concert the eclectic spirit of Hollywood, where the composer, acclaimed for his soundtracks for films by Tim Burton (Batman, Edward Scissorhands, Alice in Wonderland), Gus Van Sant (Milk) or the Simpsons series, is well known. Adam Suprynowicz Concert duration: approximately 100 minutes
Brahms wrote the Sonata in E minor for instruments close to his heart, i.e., piano and cello. At the premiere, the composer played very loudly, and when the cellist, a talented amateur, remarked to him, he replied: "lucky for you". Such a cover-up will not be necessary during the Katowice concert by the young virtuosos; we will be able to focus on the breathtaking dramatic nature of this work, which culminates in a fugal finale based on Contrapunctus 13 from Bach's Kunst der Fuge. Nadia Boulanger stopped composing after the untimely death of her sister Lili, whom she considered more talented than herself. Although, as a pedagogue, she later educated a considerable group of composers of the neo-classical movement, her music can also bring to mind the work of Debussy. In Three Pieces, we find a masterful combination of these tendencies. Sally Beamish enjoys singing the cello, so we can expect a new song for this instrument. Adam Suprynowicz Concert duration: approximately 70 minutes
If Dvořák, Kisielewski and Britten could meet – would they find a common language? Certainly so, only that would be neither Czech, nor Polish, nor English, but the language of humour and classical proportions.The Carnival Overture is its composer’s declaration of faith in the vital power of ethnic music. Remarkably, it is the central part of the “Nature – Life – Love” trilogy. Dvořák did not approach folk themes with a scholarly studiosity. Instead, seeking inspiration in their rhythms and melodies, he created an exuberant vision of his homeland’s folklore. The Slavic pulse in Dvořák’s work was so strong that it forced its way into scores, even when, having crossed the Atlantic, the composer decided to write national music for the Americans – this might be the reason why the Symphony No. 9 “From the New World” seems to resonate with Prague nostalgia more than with echoes of the prairies. Humour is probably the most important aesthetic value in music composed by the erudite, author and politician, Stefan Kisielewski. Similarly to Dvořák, while drawing from ethnic traditions, the Polish composer also carefully listened to town life: both the sounds of its fairs and its everyday rhythm. The Fun-Fair, self-identifying in its subtitle as a single-act ballet with prologue, paints a sonic cityscape within a neoclassical framework.Benjamin Britten’s works also show an unshakable faith in the power of musical tradition. There is no dearth of tributes to the Englishman’s excellent predecessors in his oeuvre, one of the most beautiful testimonies to his faith in the heritage of British culture being The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra. The piece is a cycle of variations on a very short theme from Abdelazer by the Baroque master Henry Purcell. The promise made in the title of the work is fulfilled in a pedantic presentation of each section of the orchestra and every family of instruments. The whole is intricate enough to have proven worthy of a prologue to one of Wes Anderson’s films (Moonrise Kingdom, 2012).Krzysztof SiwońConcert duration: approximately 60 minutes
Robert Schumann’s Violin Concerto was created in the ailing composer’s final years and was later considered lost for a long time. Written for the famous violinist Joseph Joachim, it seems permeated with inner struggle and a sense of resignation. The violinist never performed the piece publicly. After Schumann’s suicidal attempt and his confinement to an asylum, where he died after a short time, Joachim deemed the form of the piece to be an expression of its creator’s madness and put it in his drawer forever to remain there. Legend has it, but witnesses also confirm, that eighty years later Robert Schumann appeared to the participants of a seance held in London by Erik Kule Palmstierna, the Envoy of Sweden to the United Kingdom. The spirit ordered Joachim’s great-nieces, the violinists Jelly d’Arányi and Adila Fachiri, who were present at the table, to find and perform the lost piece. Although it was indeed recovered, the concerto was seized by the Nazis, who entrusted Georg Kulenkampff and the Berliner Philharmoniker with premiering it. The concert in Berlin took place in 1937, when Arnold Schönberg had already been forced to emigrate to the United States. His innovative creativity was not understood there, but the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra led by another emigrant, Otton Klemperer, gladly accepted his orchestral arrangement of an early piece by Johannes Brahms – the Piano Quartet No. 1 in G minor,Op. 25. Schönberg justified his orchestration of the chamber piece as follows: „1. I like this piece, 2. It is rarely played, 3. It is always played really badly, because the better the pianist, the louder he plays, as a result of which the strings cannot be heard. I wanted to hear everything and I have achieved this.” Do we need a better recommendation?Adam SuprynowiczConcert duration (intermission included): approximately 110 minutes
Daniel Roth is currently one of the most exquisite organists of our time and a wonderful improviser. His talent and achievement inspire awe in both critics and melomaniacs the world over. Superficially calm and phlegmatic, at the keyboard he is transformed into a volcano of energy. He can bring any composition to life and render it moving for the contemporary listener as well. The coming organ recital is not just a musical event, but a true celebration of virtuosity for organ music aficionados. The programme of the recital includes works by Johann Sebastian Bach, but also those by lesser-known composers, such as Alexandre-Pierre-François Boëly and Jehan Alain. While Roth’s exceptional musical sensitivity can find its expression in interpretations of both romantic and contemporary works, the culmination of the concert will be his performance of Charles-Marie Widor’s Organ Symphony No. 10 in D major, “Romane”, considered one of the most important pieces in the composer’s entire oeuvre, and simultaneously one of the greatest achievements among all French organ compositions ever to have been created. [Alexandra Kozowicz]Concert duration (intermission included): approximately 120 minutes
“The world does not have any meaning. One must give it a meaning of one’s own. Make a sacrifice.” – says the main character of the prison drama Symmetry, directed by Konrad Niewolski. Would Frederic Rzewski, a master of minimalism and socially engaged experimental music who passed away recently, agree with the above sentence, uttered by Dawid, an intellectual and university lecturer serving a long-term sentence? Certainly, such a thought was not alien to Oscar Wilde, whose De Profundis – a confessional letter bearing witness to his time at a 19th-century penitentiary to which he was sentenced for sexual practices that were illicit at the time – became the basis for one of the most important pieces by the American composer. The experience of loss of freedom – existential, political, but also that understood most literally – was one of the key topics in Rzewski’s oeuvre. The motif also returns in the pieces Coming Together and Attica, based on reports from witnesses and participants of the Attica prison rebellion, as laconic as they were shocking.Three compositions and three very different texts came together in Andrzej Chyra’s imagination to form a specific type of opera, or rather a musical monodrama. Emotionally and dramaturgically opulent, the mosaic of romantic lyricism and sharp irony, the concreteness of everyday life and religious zeal, the relief to be found in artistic expression and bitter silence, will move not only connoisseurs of contemporary music, but also theatre, cinema and literature aficionados who seek answers to the most important of questions.Enjoy this production by the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra, in which we search for answers to contemporary dilemmas in an innovative show somewhere in the borderlands of contemporary concert, dramatic theatre and opera.Michał Mendyk
Sophisticated structure does not exclude spontaneity and elegance does not necessarily deprive music of its drive. It is no coincidence that Kathrine Windfeld has worked with large ensembles so often, from the Danish Radio Big Band, through the Swedish Bohuslän Big Band and the Finnish Umo Helsinki Jazz Orchestra, to her own orchestra. The artist displays the rare skill of thinking about music in all dimensions imaginable. Even her Danish-Swedish-Polish sextet sounds like a small orchestra, a harmonic finesse in weaving each part accompanied by remarkable textures of their timbres interwoven. The leader’s compositional prowess is complemented by her improvisational temperament. Windfeld’s pianistics is like her compositions – elaborate like the patterns of a lace fabric, stretched between a delicate touch on the keyboard and a powerful stroke. A true feast for those who love masterful jazz writing and the art of arrangement. Tomasz Gregorczyk Concert duration: approximately 90 minutes
The famous fate motif from Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5 is the musical opening of the philosophical dialogue between a creator and the Creator, fate, or destiny.Nearly all of Richard Strauss’ oeuvre is music meandering among literary texts and pretexts. His songs and operas, but also symphonic poems, clearly reference programs written either in prose or in poems. In the case of instrumental works, those were often merely sources of primary inspiration, impulses that maintained only loose relationships with the final shape of the musical narrative.For Strauss, the final decade of the 19th century is a time of symphonic poems, gradually developed and bringing the idea, initiated by Liszt, towards an apogeum. It was also then that the poem Death and Transfiguration was created (1899). Its program is a vision of a man on his deathbed recalling the happy days of his past. The motto for the composition is a poem by Alexander Ritter, but the composer keeps his distance from it: the piece is „purely a work of imagination, and no fruit of my life’s experience (I only fell ill two years later). No more than a concept, just like any other”. Indeed, the music carries with it such a universally relatable existential message that no detailed explanation is needed: it leads from suffering and agony, through a rebellion against the inevitability of death, towards an ascent to light and salvation, to reach the final transfiguration and harmony.Nearing the end of his life, Strauss such found a form of expression for existential reflection that was new and sophisticated, but at the same time classically restrained. In 1948, he completed a cycle of songs to be dedicated to Kirsten Flagstad shortly before his death. The beauty of the Vier letzte Lieder (Four Last Songs) – maintaining the atmosphere of the twilight of poetry proper created by Hermann Hesse – is that of a text perfectly integrated with the sound of the orchestra. Each song is instrumented differently, but always beautifully, adequately for the emotionally eternal messages dressed in the garb of new sound.Amidst those two works by Strauss, there stand the Eternal Songs – a poem by Karłowicz that is not only excellent, but also entirely original on the levels of musical language and aesthetics. These are actually three poems, each cleped a song. They all amount to a manifestation of the composer’s longing for comfort to be found in the universe, a manifestation that evades verbal expression.Andrzej SułekConcert duration (intermission included): approximately 100 minutes
In 1999, the multi-Grammy® Winner, pianist, and composer Gonzalo Rubalcaba was selected by Piano & Keyboard Magazine as one of the great pianists of the 20th century, alongside figures such as Glenn Gould, Martha Argerich and Bill Evans. He has won three Grammys® and Four Latin Grammys, 19 Grammys nominations and EMPIK Bestsellers, all of which has established him as a creative force in the jazz world.Gonzalo was born on May 27, 1963, into a musical family in Havana. His father, pianist, composer, and bandleader Guillermo Rubalcaba, had also played in the orchestra of Enrique Jorrín, the creator of cha-cha-cha; his grandfather Jacobo Rubalcaba, was the composer of classic danzones, and his two brothers were also musicians. Gonzalo, a child prodigy who by the age of 6 was playing drums in his father’s orchestra, started his formal training two years later. He chose the piano as his main instrument.Gonzalo Rubalcaba grew up in a musical household, surrounded by his siblings and ancestors. Gonzalo Rubalcaba's musical development was complemented by a classical education at the conservatory, then at the Institute of Fine Arts in Havana, where Rubalcaba studied percussion, piano and composition. These two sources, the family and the conservatory, developed Rubalcaba's percussive, strikingly melodic music.He graduated from the Institute of Fine Arts in Havana with a degree in composition and by his midteens he was working as both drummer and pianist in the hotels, concert halls and jazz clubs of Havana. Following graduation, he stepped right into the life of the popular musician, touring Cuba, Europe, Africa and Asia with the fabled Orquesta Aragón and as a sideman in jazz groups and, beginning in 1984, leading his own Afro-Cuban jazz rock fusion band, “Grupo Proyecto”. Rubalcaba gained worldwide fame in the 1980s through performances with Charlie Haden and Paul Motian. During his worldwide touring career, he performed with artists such as Dizzy Gillespie, Chick Corea and Herbie Hancock. Multiple international music award nominee and award-winner Rubalcaba will come to the NOSPR in Katowice with his “iron” trio consisting of:Gonzalo Rubalcaba - pianoRicky Rodriguez - bassErnesto Simpson - drumsSpecial guest of the concert will be Anna Maria JopekAMJ born on 14.12.70 in Warsaw. As a child of the soloists of the Mazowsze band, she grew up in the world of art. Her artistic and at the same time folk character left a significant mark on the singer's artistic sensitivity. She continues to move in this aesthetic to a considerable extent to this day.The stylistic framework of AMJ's activity is formed by three areas of musical experience: her love of folklore brought from home, her classical music education (she graduated from the piano class at the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music) and her love for jazz. These three planes appearing in Jopek's work in different proportions, keep her work within a wide stylistic spectrum, from (especially in the early period) works in the convention of modern pop, through her original own stylistically autonomous compositions, to that part of her work which is often referred to today as “contemporary eclectic jazz”. A common feature of all her artistic activities is an extraordinary attention to level. Both in the conceptual, performance-interpretation and production layers. It is this level of professionalism, the highest artistic value and constant development that has led to the fact that today AMJ has to her credit (in addition to most of the most prominent Polish performers) cooperation with such giants of world jazz as Pat Metheny, Branford Marsalis, Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Makoto Ozone, Richard Bona. Each AMJ concert to witness is a small slice of the path of her development that she is constantly following.
The lucky ones, born early enough to have participated in that legendary concert, certainly remember the Danish drummer’s spectacular performance with Miles Davis’ group at the 1988 Warsaw Jazz Jamboree. Consecutive generations of fans grew up with Marilyn Mazur’s playing on Jan Garbarek’s records, a collaboration which lasted over a decade. While, paradoxically, only selected works by the New-York-born Dane with Polish roots are known in Poland, the same cannot be said about Denmark, where Marilyn Mazur is considered an institution. Her stunning arsenal of instruments from around the world makes one forget what an original drummer she is on a traditional set. The groove driving you deep into your seat provides a counterpoint for the delicate pieces permeated with the spirit of world music, a genre Mazur pioneered in the 80s. A great personality, with an arsenal of excellent accomplishment to her name, still moving forward with a youthful energy. Tomasz Gregorczyk Concert duration: approximately 90 minutes
American minimalism stems from the assumptions of experimental music – firstly, we create a working model and see what happens when we repeat it, gradually introducing variations. The perception of the human brain tricks us, which is why such procedures result in mesmerising auditory illusions. Philip Glass and Steve Reich are the founding fathers of this popular genre. Glass's quartets are more classical and never evade romantic phrases or recitative melodies. Steve Reich's Different Trains, written in 1988, on the other hand, is a classic of the genre and undoubtedly one of the masterpieces of the 20th century. During the Second World War, a few-year-old Reich used to travel by train between New York and Los Angeles, where his separated parents lived. He later realised that if he had lived in Europe, as a Jew, he could have gone to a concentration camp. In his harrowing work, the music mimics the shape of sentences played back from a recording taken from the wartime memories of Jews from both continents. Adam Suprynowicz Concert duration: approximately 90 minutes
In 1977, NASA sent into space gold-plated disks with basic information about the terrestrial civilisation encoded on them. Their musical-sonic content included recordings of works by Bach, Mozart and Beethoven, but also those of Japanese court chamber music, the Javanese gamelan and Chuck Berry’s guitar, as well as various natural landscapes and cityscapes. Do you think that such an attempt at “singing the whole world” makes sense? For their 50th anniversary, the legendary British vocal ensemble The Tallis Scholars set themselves a slightly less ambitious goal. The group, which has given 2500 concerts on three continents and recorded over 50 albums, decided to take its listeners on a journey to the undisputable musical centre of the Renaissance era, i.e. to Rome. It was there – at the junction of the Middle Ages and the Modern era – several generations before Bach and Mozart, that the Western ideals of balance, clarity and harmony were defined. Will the Renaissance masterpieces by Palestrina, Morales, Allegri and des Prés transport the NOSPR audience to the Sistine Chapel – a living monument to the Western spirituality, architecture, art and music? Let us see! Michał Mendyk
Music by the Czech composer Bohuslav Martinů is not appreciated enough today, though in the last century his oeuvre – particularly the 1940s New York period – was artistically celebrated. The dynamic and rapid 1945 scherzo for orchestra Thunderbolt P-47 H. 309 is a good case in point – rooted in the convention of a symphonic poem, it satisfies all the requirements of program music and leaves no doubt as to extramusical contexts. It is difficult not to hear the roar of American fighter aircraft, heralding the Allies’ victory.The master’s neoclassical style was taken up by one of his Moravian compatriots, whom Martinů met in New York in 1947: Jan Novák. Fascinated by his mentor’s clear message and musical discipline, in mid-1950s Novák wrote the Philharomonic Dances, in which he paid tribute to the composing techniques he learned in America and focused on the colour of the sound and formal clarity of the piece. Nevertheless, the Moravian line of composers subscribing to the program idea of composing and clear musical narration was born earlier. One of its leading representatives was Leoš Janáček, extremely well versed in Moravian folk music. His first mature work – the 1891 Lachian Dances – is a postromantic study of Moravian folklore. The Ancient Dance it begins with is based on the region’s endemic melodies, while the Blacksmith provides a sonic description of a blacksmith’s craft. Full of humour, the suite from the 1921 three-act opera The Cunning Little Vixen is, in turn, an expression of the composer’s adoration for nature, broadly understood. Maria Wilczek-KrupaConcert duration: approximately 70 minutes
With the release of her new recording TIME AND AGAIN, internationally renowned Brazilian pianist, composer and vocalist Eliane Elias proves again that she’s a multi-faceted, groundbreaking artist who continues to reach new heights in a brilliant career spanning decades. Straight off her last two albums, which earned GRAMMY® and Latin GRAMMY Awards, plus multiple nominations, inTIME AND AGAIN,she gives us a unique blend of her Brazilian roots informed by her mastery of jazz, R&B and alternative pop. Born in Brazil, Elias’ musical talents began to show at an early age. She started studying piano at age seven and at a 12 was transcribing solos from the great jazz masters. By the time she was 15, she was teaching piano and improvisation at one of Brazil’s most prestigious schools of music. Her performing career began in Brazil at age 17, working with Brazilian singer/songwriter Toquinho and the great poet Vinicius de Moraes, who was also Antonio Carlos Jobim’s co-writer/lyricist. In 1981, she headed for New York and in 1982 landed a spot in the acclaimed group Steps Ahead. Her first solo album release was a collaboration with Randy Brecker in 1984 entitled Amanda and in 1986 Eliane was signed to Blue Note Records.Eliane the composer and songwriter has already been recognized by her peers for her timeless melodies and skillful arranging as witnessed by her Latin GRAMMY nomination in 2011 for Best Brazilian Song and the GRAMMY nominated Impulsive, an album of her compositions arranged for big band by the legendary Bob Brookmeyer. Additionally, Eliane’s songs have been covered by a variety of jazz luminaries. The music on TIME AND AGAIN reflects the same level of artistry and ingenuity Elias has demonstrated throughout her career. She surprises us time and again with her creative ability, this time, producing an entire album of her own compositions with lyrics in English and Portuguese.Over the course of her distinguished career, Eliane Elias has consistently displayed the ability to integrate the many artistic roles she takes on. With her 2022 GRAMMY and Latin GRAMMY winning album Mirror Mirror, she showcased her mastery of the piano and improvisation in a collection of duets with Chucho Valdés and Chick Corea. With 2023’s GRAMMY and LATIN GRAMMY nominated follow up Quietude, her intoxicating vocals took center stage singing Brazilian standards. With this latest album, her songwriting skills are once again in the forefront showcasing her alluring voice and masterful musicianship, cementing her status as the reigning queen of Brazilian jazz! This is another landmark recording marking Eliane Elias’ brilliant musical journey. Through her music one comes to the profound affirmation that life is beautiful.With now 32 albums and over 2.5 million albums sold to date, Eliane Elias has a strong presence on Spotify with almost 500 million streams and over 33 million Spotify listens of her song “Little Paradise.” She has toured 77 countries, is a four-time Gold Disc Award recipient, a three-time Best Vocal Album winner in Japan and winner of the 2018 Edison Lifetime Achievement Award in Holland to name a few accolades. Her 2019 and 2021 albums (Love Stories and Mirror Mirror) were both voted “Downbeat’s Best Album of the Year - Masterpiece” and as most of her previous releases, her recordings hit #1 on the jazz charts worldwide. Eliane has received eleven GRAMMY and Latin GRAMMY nominations, in 5 different categories with two GRAMMYS and two Latin GRAMMY Award wins to date. The concert at NOSPR in Katowice is an excellent opportunity to encounter refined jazz art of the highest order, but without forgetting the Latin, crisp harmonies and at the same time the roots of Eliane Elias' music. Her soothing vocals delight music lovers around the world, spiced up by the fact that the concert will promote her latest album. However, there will be no shortage of repertoire from her past work. We highly recommend and warmly invite you to this show.Concert duration: approximately 90 minutes