Silesian String Quartet / Masterpieces with a Polish Counterpoint: Andrzej Panufnik - NOSPR

The Silesian Quartet - 45 years of experience, over 150 premieres of chamber works, thousands of performances in the world's most renowned concert halls, more than 60 album recordings, over 20 nominations, 10 "Fryderyk" awards, and the most prestigious of all - the Gramophone Classical Music Award, also known as "the musical Oscar". 

They specialize in discovering, promoting, and recording Polish music - renowned for premiering works under the composers' guidance. Departing from the traditional hierarchical model of music-making, the ensemble emphasizes exchanges with musicians from other chamber groups. Part of this exchange includes regular workshops with musicians, chamber players, and composers. 

In this season, they will combine masterpieces of chamber music with quartets by Polish composers - Witold Lutosławski, Zbigniew Bargielski, Krzysztof Meyer, Henryk Mikołaj Górecki, Joanna Wnuk-Nazarowa, and Andrzej Panufnik. All of this is on the occasion of milestone birthday anniversaries. 

On June 8, we celebrate the birthdays of two heroes of the Saturday concert - Arkadiusz Kubica, co-founder of the Silesian Quartet, and Robert Schumann, whose Quartet in A major, Op. 41 will be performed. The work is exceptional in that it was written by a pianist who composed the lion's share of his pieces for himself, perfectly understanding all aspects and secrets of the pianistic art. However, there came a time in his creative life when the pianistic means of expression were no longer enough for him. It was then that he turned to chamber music. From this period comes the aforementioned Quartet in A major. One characteristic motif he used were melodic leaps of a perfect fifth - allegedly imitating the intonational call "Clara!" - supposedly addressed to his beloved wife. 

The Polish counterpoint will be Andrzej Panufnik's String Quartet No. 2, "Messages," which we celebrate the 110th anniversary of his birth this year. Panufnik's music is considered more intellectual than emotional. The composer pays more attention to the form and conceptual nature of the music rather than Slavic melodiousness. On the other hand, Antonín Dvořák's compositions are famous for their melodiousness - and on Saturday, we will listen to his Piano Quintet No. 2 in A major, Op. 81 - an incredibly melodic work in which the composer, much like in his Mazurkas, draws inspiration from Czech folk melodies. 

The Silesian Quartet will be accompanied by Michał Szymanowski, who came really close to the final in the XVIII Chopin Competition. Many critics saw him as one of the finalists. 

Alexandra Kozowicz

Concert duration (intermission included): approximately 90 minutes

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