Camerata Silesia / Chłopecki in memoriam - NOSPR

Andrzej Chłopecki (1950–2012) was one of the most outstanding Polish musical critics, while the brightness of his mind and the brilliance of his writing (oftentimes quite unmerciful!) constitute an example followed by further generations of reviewers. The concert in Chłopecki’s memory will finish with Paweł Szymański’s Phylakterion, for both his works and the Warsaw-born composer himself were particularly dear to the critic. Phylakterion was written in 2011 and is dedicated to Anna Szostak and the vocal ensemble she had founded. In its slowly developing narrative, it concerns the space between religion and magic. Filled with mistery, the sonic atmosphere of old Greek and Nubian introduces the listener to a unique rite of passage, as the titular spell found on the wall of a crypt containing a Greek bishop’s tomb was supposed to grant the inhabitant safe entry into the realm of eternity. The performance of Phylakterion during the Warsaw Autumn 2012 took place exactly two days after Chłopecki’s death: it was no coincidence that one of the magical names was then changed to ‘Andreas’...

Duration of the concert (including break): approx. 80 minutes