That evening, the Szczecin Philharmonic Orchestra will be conducted by one of the most outstanding Polish conductors in history – maestro
Antoni Wit. There is probably no music lover who would be unfamiliar with this name. He began his career as an assistant with
Herbert von Karajan at the
Berlin Philharmonic; maestro Wit not only performed on the most prestigious stages in the world and conducted the world's best orchestras but also recorded over two hundred albums in his long and extraordinary career! As one of the few classical musicians in the world, he can boast over five million copies of his recordings sold ...
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On the stage in the golden hall, he will be accompanied by an outstanding British pianist, hailed by critics as
a music giant with unsurpassed technique –
Jonathan Plowright. The artist not only performs worldwide and is a valued performer in both concert and chamber repertoire, but also he is an ambassador of Polish music. His album with concertos by Władysław Żeleński and Aleksander Zarzycki was ranked third in the prestigious classic charts: Classical Charts, and the album with Chopin's music,
Hommage à Chopin, won numerous international phonographic awards ...
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It is hard to imagine better performers for this concert's 100% Polish program. We will begin with a wonderful, youthful piece by
Mieczysław Karłowicz, Bianca da Molen, Op. 6, inspired by a drama written by Karłowicz's friend – Józef Nowiński. Moreover, the composer wrote this beautiful piece at the age of 24.
It will be followed by the extraordinary
Piano Concerto No. 1 in F sharp minor, Op. 3 by Zygmunt Stojowski (1870-1946). This outstanding Polish artist spent most of his life in the USA, achieving spectacular success. In 1915, the New York Philharmonic Orchestra devoted an entire concert to his music. Stojowski was the first Polish composer to receive such a distinction. His works were performed by the best soloists of the era, including Paweł Kochański, George Enescu, Jacques Thibaud, Pablo Casals, Ignacy Jan Paderewski, Louis Diémer, Ignacy Friedman and Józef Hofmann. The composer was friends with Piotr Tchaikovsky and Johannes Brahms, and – apart from Polish – he was fluent in six languages: English, German, Russian, French, Latin and ancient Greek. Unfortunately, despite his great successes overseas, his music is not a frequent guest on the stages of Polish philharmonics. Therefore, we decided to bring closer his remarkable achievements to Szczecin's music lovers.
The concert will close with the beautiful
Symphony No. 2 in C minor Elegiac by Zygmunt Noskowski (1846-1909). The piece premiered in Warsaw in 1880 and became a harbinger of Noskowski's return to Poland after an exceptionally fruitful stay in Konstanz (Germany).
Franz Liszt highly appreciated his works, who even took part in the premiere of the beautiful Piano Quartet from Op. 8. As a composer, Noskowski was an extremely versatile artist. His style can be described as late romantic. Noskowski's music is characterised by an individual language and numerous borrowings from Polish musical folklore, of which he was an excellent expert. Zygmunt Noskowski was also an outstanding educator who fostered a generation of musical celebrities, including Grzegorz Fitelberg, Karol Szymanowski, Ludomir Różycki and Mieczysław Karłowicz, whose music will be heard at the beginning of the concert.
