Concert programmes

Z okazji premiery książki Dom dla muzyki zapraszamy na spotkanie z prof. Małgorzatą Omilanowską. Rozmowę z Autorką poprowadzi Filip Springer – pisarz i reporter, autor książek poświęconych architekturze, przestrzeni miejskiej. Będzie to okazja, by porozmawiać o historii gmachu, jego architektonicznych przemianach oraz opowieściach, które kryją się za jego wnętrzami i detalami.

Spotkanie obywa się w ramach filharmonicznego cyklu „Strefa Przenikania”, łączącego różne dziedziny sztuki. Każda z nich odnajduje własne punkty przecięcia z muzyką, czy to w filmie, malarstwie, fotografii, rzeźbie czy architekturze.

Zgłoś udział w spotkaniu: TUTAJ

 

Po spotkaniu prof. Małgorzata Omilanowska będzie oprowadzać po gmachu Filharmonii Narodowej. Wspólnie odwiedzimy miejsca opisane w książce i spojrzymy na przestrzenie Filharmonii z perspektywy ich historii.
Liczba miejsc na oprowadzanie jest ograniczona – lista chętnych jest już wypełniona (decydowała kolejność zgłoszeń).
Dziękujemy i zapraszamy!

 

Serdecznie zapraszamy do wspólnego odkrywania historii naszego „Domu dla muzyki”!

 

Dom dla muzyki. Dzieje gmachu warszawskiej filharmonii – książka prof. Małgorzaty Omilanowskiej

Jak zmieniał się gmach Filharmonii Warszawskiej na przestrzeni ponad 125 lat? Jak wyglądały jego wnętrza na początku XX wieku i co ocalało z nich po wojennych zniszczeniach? Odpowiedzi na te i wiele innych pytań przynosi książka Dom dla muzyki. Dzieje gmachu warszawskiej filharmonii autorstwa prof. Małgorzaty Omilanowskiej, historyk sztuki i Dyrektor Zamku Królewskiego w Warszawie.

To bogato ilustrowana opowieść o jednym z najważniejszych miejsc na kulturalnej mapie stolicy. Autorka prowadzi czytelników przez kolejne etapy historii gmachu – od pierwszych projektów architektonicznych i inauguracji w 1901 roku, przez przedwojenne lata świetności i wojenne zniszczenia, aż po powojenną odbudowę i otwarcie Filharmonii Narodowej w 1955 roku.

Ponad 200 fotografii, rycin i planów architektonicznych pozwala przyjrzeć się zarówno monumentalnej formie dawnego gmachu, jak i detalom zdobniczym, rozwiązaniom technicznym oraz wnętrzom kolejnych odsłon Filharmonii. Na kartach książki historia architektury spotyka się z opowieścią o ludziach i wydarzeniach, które kształtowały to wyjątkowe miejsce. Publikacja odsłania również mniej znane epizody z dziejów budynku i pozwala zajrzeć za kulisy jego powstawania oraz odbudowy.

 

 

„Strefa przenikania” to cykl Filharmonii Narodowej, w którym różne dziedziny sztuki łączą się, uzupełniają, a czasem kontrastują. Każda z nich odnajduje jednak własne punkty przecięcia z muzyką, sztuką filharmoniczną. Czy to w filmie, malarstwie, fotografii, rzeźbie czy architekturze. Będziemy tych punktów szukać wspólnie z ekspertami poszczególnych dziedzin i twórczo je interpretować.

Wprowadzenie do koncertu symfonicznego 6 i 7 listopada 2026.

Beata Bolesławska-Lewandowska - muzykolog, dr hab., profesor Instytutu Sztuki Polskiej Akademii Nauk w Warszawie. Autorka książek: Panufnik (PWM, 2001), Górecki. Portret w pamięci (PWM, 2013), Panufnik. Architekt emocji (PWM, 2014), The Life and Works of Andrzej Panufnik (1914–1991) (przekł. Richard Reisner, Ashgate, 2015), Mycielski. Szlachectwo zobowiązuje (PWM, 2017), The Symphony and Symphonic Thinking in Polish Music since 1956 (Routledge, 2019), Górecki (PWM 2023), Zygmunt Mycielski. Między muzyką a polityką (PWM, 2025), a także edytorka korespondencji Zygmunta Mycielskiego i Andrzeja Panufnika (IS PAN, 2016, 2018, 2021), korespondencji Jerzego Giedroycia z kompozytorami (IS PAN, 2026) oraz tomów pism Zygmunta Mycielskiego (PWM, 2022; IS PAN, 2025) i Pawła Hertza (PIW, 2022).

Współinicjatorka i współredaktor naczelna serii wydawniczej „Muzyka polska za granicą”, wydawanej przez Instytut Sztuki PAN. Autorka artykułów na tematy związane z polską muzyką współczesną, publikowanych w kraju i za granicą, a także tekstów na portalach internetowych, w programach koncertowych i książeczkach płytowych. Uczestniczka i organizatorka polskich i międzynarodowych konferencji muzykologicznych. Uhonorowana odznaką „Zasłużony dla kultury polskiej” (2007) oraz Nagrodą Honorową Związku Kompozytorów Polskich (2015). W latach 2015–2025 przewodnicząca Sekcji Muzykologów, od czerwca 2025 Prezes Zarządu Głównego Związku Kompozytorów Polskich. W 2026 roku otrzymała Nagrodę Doroczną Związku Kompozytorów Polskich oraz Nagrodę Ministra Kultury i Dziedzictwa Narodowego. W tym samym roku jej książka Zygmunt Mycielski. Między muzyką a polityką została uhonorowana Nagrodą Komitetu Nauk o Sztuce PAN oraz Nagrodą im. Cypriana Kamila Norwida.

 

Gościem specjalnym tego spotkania będzie Grażyna Pstrokońska-Nawratil, kompozytorka, autorka utworu Polaris, zamówionego przez Filharmonię Narodową z okazji 125-lecia instytucji.
 

Wprowadzenia „O czym gramy?” odbywają się w Sali Kameralnej - zapraszamy do wejścia od ul. Sienkiewicza.
Otwarte są dla posiadaczy biletów i abonamentów na dany koncert (lub jego sobotnie powtórzenie) oraz dla członków Klubu Przyjaciół Filharmonii.

One of the Warsaw Philharmonic’s cherished traditions is the commissioning of new works from Poland’s most distinguished composers, and Grażyna Pstrokońska-Nawratil’s Polaris was born of that very tradition. Its performance will form part of this year’s celebrations marking the 125th anniversary of the founding of the Warsaw Philharmonic. A pupil of Olivier Messiaen, Pierre Boulez and Iannis Xenakis, Pstrokońska-Nawratil has developed a distinctive idiom which she describes as “ecomusic”: the art of shaping musical form through colour and the movement of sound structures, inspired by the experience of nature. As the composer herself has said, “For me, composing is thinking in sound”.

Written at the initiative of Stefan Kamasa, Grażyna Bacewicz's Viola Concerto proved to be the composer's last solo concerto. Its transparent orchestration allows the viola to reveal its noble timbre to emerge in full, while at the same time challenging conventional notions about the instrument’s use. The première took place in 1969, after the composer’s death, with Stefan Kamasa as soloist and the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Witold Rowicki. Kamasa later recalled his work on the Concerto: “In March 1968 I received the third movement. Over the following year I became so absorbed in this music that I hardly noticed when I had learnt my part by heart. All the more painful, then, was the news of Grażyna Bacewicz’s death...”.

The concert programme would not be complete without a work belonging to the very heart of the symphonic canon—and here the obvious choice is Ludwig van Beethoven's Symphony No. 5, one of those compositions that forever changed the way the symphony came to be understood.

Its celebrated four-note opening gesture—one of the most instantly recognisable in the history of music—becomes the germ of the work’s entire dramatic design.

From its terse energy, Beethoven shapes an expansive musical form, leading the musical narrative from the drama of the opening movement to the radiant finale. Every performance reveals new relationships between architectural discipline and elemental musical force, which is why it is always worth returning to this masterpiece, discovering it anew.

 

Piotr Maculewicz

 

 

Polaris by Grażyna Pstrokońska-Nawratil and Viola Concerto by Grażyna Bacewicz are published by PWM Edition.

One of the Warsaw Philharmonic’s cherished traditions is the commissioning of new works from Poland’s most distinguished composers, and Grażyna Pstrokońska-Nawratil’s Polaris was born of that very tradition. Its performance will form part of this year’s celebrations marking the 125th anniversary of the founding of the Warsaw Philharmonic. A pupil of Olivier Messiaen, Pierre Boulez and Iannis Xenakis, Pstrokońska-Nawratil has developed a distinctive idiom which she describes as “ecomusic”: the art of shaping musical form through colour and the movement of sound structures, inspired by the experience of nature. As the composer herself has said, “For me, composing is thinking in sound”.

Written at the initiative of Stefan Kamasa, Grażyna Bacewicz's Viola Concerto proved to be the composer's last solo concerto. Its transparent orchestration allows the viola to reveal its noble timbre to emerge in full, while at the same time challenging conventional notions about the instrument’s use. The première took place in 1969, after the composer’s death, with Stefan Kamasa as soloist and the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Witold Rowicki. Kamasa later recalled his work on the Concerto: “In March 1968 I received the third movement. Over the following year I became so absorbed in this music that I hardly noticed when I had learnt my part by heart. All the more painful, then, was the news of Grażyna Bacewicz’s death...”.

The concert programme would not be complete without a work belonging to the very heart of the symphonic canon—and here the obvious choice is Ludwig van Beethoven's Symphony No. 5, one of those compositions that forever changed the way the symphony came to be understood.

Its celebrated four-note opening gesture—one of the most instantly recognisable in the history of music—becomes the germ of the work’s entire dramatic design.

From its terse energy, Beethoven shapes an expansive musical form, leading the musical narrative from the drama of the opening movement to the radiant finale. Every performance reveals new relationships between architectural discipline and elemental musical force, which is why it is always worth returning to this masterpiece, discovering it anew.

 

Piotr Maculewicz

 

 

Polaris by Grażyna Pstrokońska-Nawratil and Viola Concerto by Grażyna Bacewicz are published by PWM Edition.

In FeNek’s concert guide… pulse and tempo

 

From first thing in the morning, FeNek has been searching every nook and cranny of the Philharmonic. He’s looking for a very special timekeeper belonging to a composer friend. Could it have become lodged between the strings of the piano? Fallen into a violin case? Or perhaps it’s disappeared beneath piles of sheet music? Without it, our composer completely loses his sense of rhythm, falls out of tempo and loses track of time as he searches for his own musical style. Such a thing hardly ever happens – after all, in music everything has to be right on time! If you’d like to help him find his place in the world of music once again, come to the Philharmonic and keep an eye out for FeNek!

In FeNek’s concert guide… pulse and tempo

 

From first thing in the morning, FeNek has been searching every nook and cranny of the Philharmonic. He’s looking for a very special timekeeper belonging to a composer friend. Could it have become lodged between the strings of the piano? Fallen into a violin case? Or perhaps it’s disappeared beneath piles of sheet music? Without it, our composer completely loses his sense of rhythm, falls out of tempo and loses track of time as he searches for his own musical style. Such a thing hardly ever happens – after all, in music everything has to be right on time! If you’d like to help him find his place in the world of music once again, come to the Philharmonic and keep an eye out for FeNek!

Wprowadzenie do koncertów symfonicznych 13 i 14 listopada 2026.

Szymon Paczkowski - muzykolog, profesor Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego. Jego zainteresowania badawcze koncentrują się wokół zagadnień historii i estetyki muzyki baroku, w szczególności twórczości Johanna Sebastiana Bacha. Autor dwóch książek o muzyce czasów baroku: Nauka o afektach w myśli muzycznej I połowy XVII wieku (1998) i Styl polski w muzyce Johanna Sebastiana Bacha (2011, wersja angielska 2017), redaktor tomu studiów pt. Bach and Chopin. Baroque Traditions in the Music of the Romantics (2020) oraz licznych prac naukowych z zakresu historii muzyki od XVII do XIX wieku. Członek American Bach Society oraz Neue Bach-Gesellschaft e.V. w Lipsku.

Wprowadzenia „O czym gramy?” odbywają się w Sali Kameralnej - zapraszamy do wejścia od ul. Sienkiewicza.
Otwarte są dla posiadaczy biletów i abonamentów na dany koncert (lub jego sobotnie powtórzenie) oraz dla członków Klubu Przyjaciół Filharmonii.

The beginning of 1740 in London was marked by an exceptionally severe winter. The River Thames froze over completely, the cold delayed food supplies, and organisers of cultural events were forced to postpone or cancel their programmes. Despite the freezing weather, George Frideric Handel threw himself into work on another piece for one of London’s theatres. He quickly embraced a suggestion put forward by a group of his literary friends: to set to music two poems by the much-admired English poet John Milton – L'Allegro and Il Penseroso. The former is a hymn to merriment and the bustling life of the city; the latter praises focus, contemplation, and solitude. To reconcile such contrasting outlooks, a third allegorical figure was needed, in keeping with the Enlightenment ideal of the golden mean: Il Moderato, absent from Milton's original. The new text was written by Handel's collaborator, the poet Charles Jennens, who drew, among other sources, on Shakespeare's The Tempest.

The result was a work of almost philosophical character, defying easy classification and rich in graceful arias and the choruses for which Handel is so greatly admired. Throughout the work, the composer drew freely on English traditions, vividly depicting the sounds of the countryside and of nature, while at the same time endowing it with humour.

The soloists and the ensembles of the Warsaw Philharmonic will be led by Nicholas McGegan, one of the world's foremost authorities on Handel’s music. The conductor is exceptionally familiar with L'Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato: he has conducted the work on numerous occasions and regards his collaboration with the Mark Morris Dance Group on its renowned choreographic interpretation as one of the most important artistic experiences of his career.

 

Bartłomiej Gembicki

The beginning of 1740 in London was marked by an exceptionally severe winter. The River Thames froze over completely, the cold delayed food supplies, and organisers of cultural events were forced to postpone or cancel their programmes. Despite the freezing weather, George Frideric Handel threw himself into work on another piece for one of London’s theatres. He quickly embraced a suggestion put forward by a group of his literary friends: to set to music two poems by the much-admired English poet John Milton – L'Allegro and Il Penseroso. The former is a hymn to merriment and the bustling life of the city; the latter praises focus, contemplation, and solitude. To reconcile such contrasting outlooks, a third allegorical figure was needed, in keeping with the Enlightenment ideal of the golden mean: Il Moderato, absent from Milton's original. The new text was written by Handel's collaborator, the poet Charles Jennens, who drew, among other sources, on Shakespeare's The Tempest.

The result was a work of almost philosophical character, defying easy classification and rich in graceful arias and the choruses for which Handel is so greatly admired. Throughout the work, the composer drew freely on English traditions, vividly depicting the sounds of the countryside and of nature, while at the same time endowing it with humour.

The soloists and the ensembles of the Warsaw Philharmonic will be led by Nicholas McGegan, one of the world's foremost authorities on Handel’s music. The conductor is exceptionally familiar with L'Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato: he has conducted the work on numerous occasions and regards his collaboration with the Mark Morris Dance Group on its renowned choreographic interpretation as one of the most important artistic experiences of his career.

 

Bartłomiej Gembicki

The piano duo formed by brothers Lucas and Arthur Jussen, now both in their thirties, is one of the true phenomena of today's concert stage. Admired by audiences and highly acclaimed by critics, the Dutch brothers have been giving dozens of recitals around the world since childhood. Their artistic maturity and versatility are reflected in an exceptionally wide-ranging repertoire. It includes an extensive selection of works for four hands and for two pianos, written over several centuries by the greatest composers. As a result, each of their concerts becomes an inspiring journey through musical eras, styles and moods.

Johann Sebastian Bach’s most beautiful chorales will lead us into a mood of quiet reflection and quasi-religious contemplation. The universal dimension of German music will also be represented by Johannes Brahms' Variations on a Theme by Haydn. The two Polish accents in the Jussen brothers' recital are Witold Lutosławski’s Variations on a Theme by Paganini and VAN… by the contemporary composer Hanna Kulenty. Written in 2014, the work is, in the composer’s own words, both a tribute to the Dutch monarchy (the House of Orange, for whom it was composed) and to Ludwig van Beethoven.

The second half of the evening belongs to French wit and elegance, and to the distinctly American fusion of classical music and jazz. Gabriel Fauré’s Dolly Suite recalls the collections of piano miniatures for children that were so popular in the nineteenth century. Maurice Ravel’s Introduction et Allegro, originally written for harp, flute, clarinet and string quartet, is equally compelling in its two-piano version. Capturing the richness of orchestral sonorities will undoubtedly present a far greater challenge to the performers. In the case of George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue, the task seems almost impossible, which makes this performance all the more worth hearing.

 

Grzegorz Zieziula

The Polish Music Scene is a programme of music organised by the National Institute of Music and Dance in collaboration with the Warsaw Philharmonic and financed by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage. We present Polish artists and Polish compositions – particularly works not often performed. We wish to promote the performance of Polish music, inspire musicians to turn to this repertoire and generate interest among audiences in Polish musical output as broadly understood. The programme is open to instrumentalists and singers, soloists and chamber ensembles. The programmes featuring Polish music, selected via a competition, will be performed in the Chamber Music Hall of the Warsaw Philharmonic and at other concert venues around Poland.

The first part of the concert invites listeners into the musical world of Zygmunt Krauze. Spróbuj opiewać okaleczony świat (Try to Praise the Mutilated World) is a moving poem by Adam Zagajewski. It also serves as the title of Krauze’s new work, which will receive its world premiere at this concert. The composer follows Zagajewski’s poem, with the text – sung by the solo soprano – playing a central role.

Piano Concerto No. 2 (1996) was inspired by sacred places that the composer visited and that left a profound impression on him: Delphi in Greece (the principal sanctuary of Apollo), Teotihuacan in Mexico (a sacred city of the Aztecs), Gyeongju in Korea (the cradle of Korean Buddhism), and Jerusalem. Although the work does not use elements of the traditional music of these cultures, each movement reflects the composer’s artistic impressions from these visits. The virtuosic piano part will be performed by the composer himself.

The evening will conclude with Mahler’s Symphony No. 4 (1900), notable for requiring fewer performers than many of his other works and often regarded as one of his more accessible symphonies. But is it really? Perhaps the idyllic finale – featuring a solo soprano singing a childlike vision of heavenly delights – juxtaposed with the danse macabre motif from the second movement creates a sense of grotesque irony, where death appears as a constant element of life, and the apparent ‘accessibility’ of the work’s musical language conceals a deeper, more challenging meaning.

Some sounds were never meant for the concert hall, yet they have found their way into the repertoire of the world's greatest orchestras, championed by its most eminent conductors. When folk tradition and symphonic music meet in the works of Wojciech Kilar, Mieczysław Weinberg and Witold Lutosławski, it is difficult to remain unmoved.

All three composers were fascinated by traditional music – its rawness, rhythm and primal energy. From the simplest of motifs, they were able to create sound worlds of extraordinary expressive power: sensual, unsettling and, at times, almost trance-like. It is hardly surprising that Kilar's music resonated so strongly with cinema. Can we already hear in Krzesany the first seeds of the ideas that would later reappear in his legendary score for Francis Ford Coppola’s Bram Stoker's Dracula? The work unfolds gradually, growing from short, austere motifs into a monumental musical statement of almost physical intensity. Here, folklore escapes the confines of aesthetic convention. It becomes an elemental force, captured in repetitive rhythms and the energy of dance – an ancient rite concealed within the orchestra's sound.

Mieczysław Weinberg’s Symphony No. 3 in B minor, Op. 45 is a beautiful musical tale of longing and hope. The second movement, Allegro giocoso, of this monumental work is, however, a joyful, dance-like celebration of the Polish folk tradition. Driven far from his native Warsaw by the course of history, the composer returned in this way to the world of his childhood, seeking there a spiritual refuge.

Lutosławski’s Little Suite pulses with movement and colour. Light and dance-like, it creates a space that evokes a world far removed from the rush of modern life – communal, immersed in nature and the rhythms of everyday rituals. Yet this music is underpinned by remarkable structural precision and the composer’s distinctive imagination in shaping sound.

Under Krzysztof Urbański’s baton, this repertoire takes on a particular intensity – fresh, dynamic and free from any museum-like detachment. Rather than reconstructing tradition, the music reveals its contemporary power.

 

Maria Peryt

 

 

Little Suite by Witold Lutosławski and Symphonic poem Krzesany by Wojciech Kilar are published by PWM Edition.

Orkiestra Filharmonii Narodowej pod batutą Krzysztofa Urbańskiego oraz skrzypaczka Maria Dueñas wykonają Koncert skrzypcowy D-dur op. 77 Johannesa Brahmsa.

Zgłoszeń do udziału w próbie (indywidualnych lub grupowych) należy dokonać w terminie wskazanym każdorazowo przed Otwartą Próbą Generalną.
W związku z ograniczoną liczbą miejsc, o udziale w Próbie decyduje kolejność zgłoszeń.

Bilety na Otwartą Próbę Generalną 20.11 - zarówno dla zgłoszeń indywidualnych, jak i dla grup zorganizowanych - będą możliwe do zakupienia od 26 października.
 

Zgłoszenia grupowe
Zachęcamy szkoły średnie i uczelnie wyższe do wzięcia udziału w projekcie jako grupy zorganizowane z opiekunem.
Zgłoszenia należy dokonać za pomocą formularza, który będzie dostępny 26 października.
Udział w Próbie jest płatny i wynosi 15 zł od osoby (opiekun – wstęp wolny).

Zgłoszenia indywidualne
Bilety w cenie 20 zł będą dostępne w kasie Filharmonii bądź za pośrednictwem platformy bilety24 od 26 października.

 

Serdecznie zapraszamy uczniów szkół średnich, studentów oraz osoby dorosłe!

Johannes Brahms composed his Symphony No. 2 in D major, Op. 73, during the summer of 1877 on the shores of the picturesque Lake Wörthersee in Carinthia, where he liked to spend his holidays. The landscape and atmosphere of the region found their reflection in the music, making it one of Brahms's brightest and most serene works. Commentators readily compared it to Beethoven's ‘Pastoral’ Symphony, although the composer himself regarded such associations with some reserve. The opening bars, with their gentle horn motif, immediately establish a mood of warm, gently nostalgic lyricism. They are followed by a more introspective Adagio with dramatic episodes, then a light, dance-like scherzo, before the work culminates in a radiant finale full of energy and contrast. The première, given in Vienna on 30 December 1877 under the baton of Hans Richter, was greeted with great enthusiasm.

From the same period dates Brahms’s only work for violin and orchestra, the Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 77. The composer consulted his friend, the distinguished violinist Joseph Joachim, on the solo part, and it was Joachim who gave the première performance at the Leipzig Gewandhaus on 1 January 1879. Some virtuosos of the day considered the Concerto excessively demanding, even virtually unplayable, while others criticised the overly prominent role of the orchestra. In time, however, it came to be regarded as one of the finest works of the genre. Particular affection has long been reserved for the lyrical Adagio, which opens with a beautiful oboe solo, and for the bravura finale, inspired by the vitality of Hungarian music, which had fascinated Brahms since his youth.

A fascinating interpretation of this work is sure to come from the Spanish violinist and composer María Dueñas, a prize-winner of, among others, the Menuhin Competition. The New York Times praised her ability to breathe “new life into familiar works”, describing her as “a 22-year-old violinist with something to say – and the ability to say it brilliantly”.

Piotr Maculewicz

Johannes Brahms composed his Symphony No. 2 in D major, Op. 73, during the summer of 1877 on the shores of the picturesque Lake Wörthersee in Carinthia, where he liked to spend his holidays. The landscape and atmosphere of the region found their reflection in the music, making it one of Brahms's brightest and most serene works. Commentators readily compared it to Beethoven's ‘Pastoral’ Symphony, although the composer himself regarded such associations with some reserve. The opening bars, with their gentle horn motif, immediately establish a mood of warm, gently nostalgic lyricism. They are followed by a more introspective Adagio with dramatic episodes, then a light, dance-like scherzo, before the work culminates in a radiant finale full of energy and contrast. The première, given in Vienna on 30 December 1877 under the baton of Hans Richter, was greeted with great enthusiasm.

From the same period dates Brahms’s only work for violin and orchestra, the Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 77. The composer consulted his friend, the distinguished violinist Joseph Joachim, on the solo part, and it was Joachim who gave the première performance at the Leipzig Gewandhaus on 1 January 1879. Some virtuosos of the day considered the Concerto excessively demanding, even virtually unplayable, while others criticised the overly prominent role of the orchestra. In time, however, it came to be regarded as one of the finest works of the genre. Particular affection has long been reserved for the lyrical Adagio, which opens with a beautiful oboe solo, and for the bravura finale, inspired by the vitality of Hungarian music, which had fascinated Brahms since his youth.

A fascinating interpretation of this work is sure to come from the Spanish violinist and composer María Dueñas, a prize-winner of, among others, the Menuhin Competition. The New York Times praised her ability to breathe “new life into familiar works”, describing her as “a 22-year-old violinist with something to say – and the ability to say it brilliantly”.

 

Piotr Maculewicz

What if you woke up every morning with your head full of music? Ludwig van Beethoven must surely have known what that was like. This great composer was also a remarkable pianist, which is why he wrote so brilliantly for both orchestra and solo piano. During the concert, we'll hear works in which this magnificent instrument takes the leading role, before listening to some of Beethoven's best-known symphonic passages. We'll talk about his life and about how he was seen by his contemporatries. We'll also wonder what we would like most about him if we were to meet him today.

What if you woke up every morning with your head full of music? Ludwig van Beethoven must surely have known what that was like. This great composer was also a remarkable pianist, which is why he wrote so brilliantly for both orchestra and solo piano. During the concert, we'll hear works in which this magnificent instrument takes the leading role, before listening to some of Beethoven's best-known symphonic passages. We'll talk about his life and about how he was seen by his contemporatries. We'll also wonder what we would like most about him if we were to meet him today.

organiser: Sinfonia Varsovia

 

'I cannot listen to this concerto anymore – did I perhaps write just this one? Go away and once and for all play the other concertos, which are just as good, if not better.' These words by Max Bruch reflect the composer’s deep frustration; for twenty years, he had been unable to write anything that would surpass the fame of his youthful masterpiece. His irritation was compounded by the fact that his Violin Concerto No. 1 did not provide him with a steady income: as a fledgling composer, he had sold it for a pittance – a one-time payment of 250 thalers.

Work on the piece progressed slowly. He began writing it in the summer of 1864. The version performed in 1866 under the composer’s baton was not the final one; he continued to refine his work throughout the following year, seeking input from musician friends. Among those who offered their comments were Ferdinand David and Joseph Joachim. He shared numerous doubts with the latter: he was wary of the weighty term 'concerto' (considering instead to call the piece a 'fantasy'), found the violin passages trite, and spotted formal weaknesses. Years later, when a collection of Bruch’s letters was being prepared for publication, the composer asked that those which might cast him in a negative light be omitted. He feared that readers, rather than appreciating his meticulousness as a self-aware artist, would view him as a composer lacking independence, reliant on the comments and expertise of others.

In the First, he draws heavily on ideas familiar from earlier works in this genre: all three movements are played attacca (without pauses), as in Mendelssohn, and the opening snare drum roll in the timpani pays a clear homage to Beethoven. Today, there is no doubt that the First is a masterpiece – and a masterpiece by Bruch. Unusually, in the first two movements he omits or significantly shortens the customary closing sections of the form, the essence of which is the repetition of the initial material. He likely does this to avoid the accusation of predictability. He uses the term 'Vorspiel' for the first movement, treating it merely as an introduction to the Adagio. The finale, with its impetuous double notes, is full of Hungarian character, familiar to us from Brahms’s concerto, composed a decade later.

*** 

Mozart and Dvořák composed the other two works of the evening without such dilemmas. In fact, they reflect the lightness and nonchalance of these composers. Mozart usually reserved the overtures for the end of his work on an opera – and this was also the case with his last one, Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute). This allowed him to incorporate musical material from the opera that had already been composed into the overture that opens the work. The opening brass chords refer directly to events in the second act: these sounds accompany the initiation ceremony (of a distinctly Masonic nature) to which Tamino is subjected. Here, Mozart brilliantly blends humor with seriousness. Unusually for a comic opera, the overture’s main theme is developed in the form of a fugue – a form with distinctly dignified connotations of antiquity and erudition. He drew the witty melody from the first movement of Muzio Clementi’s Piano Sonata in B flat major, Op. 24, No. 2 – it is possible that the idea of composing a fugue based on this theme came to Mozart while he was performing an improvised ad libitum cadenza at the end of the Allegro of that sonata.

*** 

It took less than 10 weeks to compose his Symphony No. 8 during a creative retreat at his summer residence in Vysoká. The respected critic Eduard Hanslick reviewed one of its first performances very favorably. He claimed that Dvořák demonstrated true maturity in this work because – to paraphrase – he 'did not taint its spontaneity and freshness with pedantry'. The atmosphere of the Czech countryside is strongly felt in the symphony: the work shimmers with shifting moods and lively melodies with a distinctly folk character.

In the style of Schubert’s late period, the themes unfold as elaborate transformations of motifs rather than as self-contained, symmetrical ideas that are easily distinguishable. The dignified chorale in the first movement leads, via a flute signal, toward a veritable explosion of energy. In the pastoral Adagio, Dvořák imitates the sounds of nature (birdsong). In the Allegretto grazioso, a sentimental waltz in a minor key resounds, with the strings lightly jumping across the strings in staccato, evoking Mendelssohn’s Elfenmusik ('elf music'). The composer juxtaposes this waltz with a distinctive major-key trio, featuring limping trumpets and timpani. The finale, heralded by trumpets, is an elegant blend of rondo and variation forms with impetuous, dance-like themes.

 

Jakub Strużyński

W 2027 roku mija dwieście lat od śmierci niemieckiego kompozytora Ludwiga van Beethovena. Zapraszamy na spotkanie z twórczością geniusza z Bonn i opowieść o jego ciekawym, choć trudnym życiu. Wspólnie z najmłodszymi słuchaczami przyjrzymy się początkom muzycznej drogi kompozytora oraz przekonamy się, czy wśród dźwięków, które usłyszymy, znajdą się nasze ulubione melodie. Z młodzieżą poznamy najsłynniejsze dzieła Beethovena, który nawet gdy słyszał już naprawdę niewiele, największe ukojenie znajdował w muzyce.

Na koncerty z cyklu Spotkania z Muzyką w Filharmonii Narodowej zapraszamy wyłącznie zorganizowane grupy przedszkolne (od 5 roku życia) oraz ze szkół podstawowych.
O możliwości rezerwacji biletów na koncert 23 listopada 2026 poinformujemy w późniejszym terminie.

W 2027 roku mija dwieście lat od śmierci niemieckiego kompozytora Ludwiga van Beethovena. Zapraszamy na spotkanie z twórczością geniusza z Bonn i opowieść o jego ciekawym, choć trudnym życiu. Wspólnie z najmłodszymi słuchaczami przyjrzymy się początkom muzycznej drogi kompozytora oraz przekonamy się, czy wśród dźwięków, które usłyszymy, znajdą się nasze ulubione melodie. Z młodzieżą poznamy najsłynniejsze dzieła Beethovena, który nawet gdy słyszał już naprawdę niewiele, największe ukojenie znajdował w muzyce.

Na koncerty z cyklu Spotkania z Muzyką w Filharmonii Narodowej zapraszamy wyłącznie zorganizowane grupy przedszkolne (od 5 roku życia) oraz ze szkół podstawowych.
O możliwości rezerwacji biletów na koncert 23 listopada 2026 poinformujemy w późniejszym terminie.

Credo is one of Krzysztof Penderecki’s finest oratorio works, alongside such compositions as St Luke Passion and Seven Gates of Jerusalem. Initially conceived as part of a complete Mass cycle, it was eventually expanded by the composer into an independent, monumental work.

The textual basis of the composition is the Latin Creed, enriched with excerpts from the Holy Week liturgy, the Protestant chorale Aus tiefer Not, the Polish Lenten hymn Ludu mój ludu, and the supplicatory invocation Któryś za nas cierpiał rany. This combination of diverse traditions and sources creates a multidimensional, ecumenical spiritual space. Together with its powerful performing forces, Credo becomes a deeply moving work in both its spiritual and artistic dimensions.

An encounter with the artistry of Karol Mossakowski is sure to be an exceptional experience. One of today's leading virtuosos, he has already achieved extraordinary success despite his young age, becoming titular organist of Saint-Sulpice in Paris – one of the foremost centres in the history of the world's organ performance and composition. Mossakowski’s performances are distinguished by their breadth of sound and dynamic sweep; he approaches his instrument as though it were a great symphony orchestra, with its vast palette of colours and expansive sense of space. As both performer and composer, he is also renowned as a superb improviser, creating, among other things, live music for silent films.

The programme brings together works for organ and wind ensemble. As Mossakowski himself explains, this unusual combination is fully justified by the close affinity between the sonorities of the two forces, intensifying the music's emotional impact while making full use of its spatial potential. He also chose this scoring for the new work presented at the concert. The arrangements of Johann Sebastian Bach’s Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor and Gustav Holst’s The Planets were prepared by the contemporary Austrian trombonist Mark Graal. Bach's masterpiece ranks among the finest organ works of the Baroque era. Gustav Holst’s immensely popular orchestral suite The Planets is a monumental work of strikingly cinematic character, its seven movements corresponding to the seven planets of the Solar System.
 

Robert Losiak

organiser: PanKoncert

 

“A Jam Good Time” is a unique live concert experience that brings Cory Henry together with some of the most dynamic and acclaimed musicians on today’s music scene. Bursting with energy, rhythm and spontaneity, the show is designed to captivate the audience from the very first note.

Funk, jazz, soul and modern electronic music come together with live sampling, improvisation and world-class musicianship. At its heart is live music in its purest form - virtuosic, organic and unpredictable, yet above all irresistibly danceable and filled with positive energy.

The programme takes the audience through different stages of Cory Henry’s musical journey: from songs featured on his debut album, First Steps, through new arrangements and remixes, to brand-new material that moves freely across genre boundaries, drawing inspiration from funk, electronic music, jazz and soul.

“A Jam Good Time” is built on spontaneity, musical dialogue and the exceptional chemistry between the performers. As a result, every concert is different - fresh, one of a kind and created largely in the moment, together with the audience.

Cory Henry is a multi-award-winning artist, composer and producer, as well as one of the most distinctive keyboard virtuosos of his generation. He gained international recognition as a member of Snarky Puppy and has since developed his own instantly recognisable musical language, blending gospel, jazz, funk, soul and contemporary production.

“A Jam Good Time” is more than a concert - it is a vibrant, pulsating musical celebration performed at the highest international level.

The concert programme presents works by 20th- and 21st-century composers from three countries bordering the Baltic Sea: Poland, Latvia, and Finland.

Henryk Mikołaj Górecki’s Three Pieces in an Old Style (1963) were allegedly composed in response to a friendly ‘criticism’ by Tadeusz Ochlewski, who claimed that Górecki’s music lacked melody. As the title of this short cycle suggests, the composer refers to the styles of past eras: modal elements appear in all three movements; the third uses a melody from an anonymous 16th-century song, while the second pulses with the rhythm of an old folk dance.

In Vox Amoris, a one-movement fantasy for violin and string orchestra (2009), Latvian composer Pēteris Vasks gives voice to love as ‘the most powerful force in the world’. The violin and orchestra – ‘the best combination for a “love story”’, as the composer put it – create a narrative that is initially subtle and lyrical, but then gains dramatic momentum in the climactic cadenza, resolving into a calm, melancholic conclusion.

The second part of the concert features Sibelius’s monumental Symphony No. 2 (1902), which his contemporaries interpreted as a voice in Finland’s struggle for independence – a view the composer himself denied. Written shortly after the death of his daughter, Sibelius described it as a ‘confession of the soul’. The second movement, including motifs of death and resurrection, can be heard as a musical portrayal of grief and the search for consolation. The victory of hope over darkness is also symbolised by the triumphant finale following the dramatic third movement.

 

 

organiser: National Centre for Culture Poland

The concert programme brings together works that are both distinctive and unconventional, diverse in style and subject matter. Much of what unites them is the idea of musical illustration or extra-musical content, expressed through their titles and verbal commentary, and in one case even through visual elements.

Composed in 1793 – a year that proved momentous for the events portrayed – the cycle of piano miniatures The Sufferings of the French Queen by the Czech composer Jan Ladislav Dussek presents a fictionalised account of the tragic fate of Marie Antoinette, culminating in a musical apotheosis of the queen condemned to the guillotine. The ten scenes from the queen's life are narrated through the titles of the individual movements, as well as the programme notes incorporated into the score, including the climactic annotation, ‘The guillotine falls’, vividly rendered in a striking musical gesture.

A very different subject and atmosphere emerge in the work of the eccentric French composer Erik Satie. Composed in 1914, his cycle of twenty-one satirical piano miniatures, Sports et divertissements (Sports and Pastimes) – performed here in an arrangement for instrumental ensemble – transports the listener into the world of fashion magazines and advertising imagery, combining music with spoken text and illustrations originally included in the published score.

The piano miniature The Tawny Owl comes from Olivier Messiaen's celebrated Catalogue d'oiseaux (Catalogue of Birds) of 1958. One of the great French composers of the twentieth century and an avid ornithologist, Messiaen repeatedly drew on the birdsong he collected in his compositions. Yet this music is far removed from straightforward quotation, even though the titles refer to specific bird species.

The concert concludes with Leoš Janáček’s brilliant, rhythmically vibrant and richly coloured Concertino of 1925, written for piano and instrumental ensemble.

 

Robert Losiak

For more than three centuries, the music of Johann Sebastian Bach has moved listeners with extraordinary power. At its heart lies relationship, and Double Bach offers an opportunity to deepen that experience of dialogue. In Bach's double concertos for two soloists, the point is not rivalry or dazzling display. Even in their most virtuosic passages, they remain a sounding record of relationship, concentration and attentiveness to another person.

The Concerto in D minor for Two Violins, BWV 1043, is one of the most frequently performed violin concertos in history. Its enduring popularity stems not only from its masterly structure and virtuosity, but also from the extraordinary emotional tension created between the two solo parts. The Concerto in C major for Two Harpsichords, BWV 1061.2, by contrast, grew out of a chamber duet, to which Bach most likely added the orchestral part only later. The work is shaped by the intimate relationship between the two solo instruments.

Composed during Bach’s early creative period, the Sinfonia from the cantata Ich hatte viel Bekümmernis, BWV 21, delights with its subtle orchestration and exceptional emotional depth. The Concerto in C minor for Oboe and Violin, BWV 1060R, on the other hand, conceals an intriguing story behind the letter ‘R’. The original score has not survived, and the modern version was reconstructed from Bach's later concerto for two harpsichords.

The Wrocław Baroque Orchestra is one of Poland’s leading period-instrument ensembles. It is one of those ensembles that bring masterpieces written three hundred years ago vividly to life through the freshness and vitality of their interpretations. Their concerts are intense, deeply engaging musical experiences, performed with passion and imagination. Jarosław Thiel, an outstanding cellist who has shaped the character of the Wrocław Baroque Orchestra since its foundation, is one of the leading figures of Poland’s early music scene. His interpretations combine historical awareness with naturalness and dramatic flair, achieving a result that is at once remarkably precise and contemporary in its emotional impact.

The soloists, Aleksandra Rupocińska and Ewa Mrowca, are two outstanding harpsichordists who rank among the leading artists on Poland’s early music scene. They combine virtuosity with lightness, and precision with musical freedom. In Bach’s music, they create a dialogue of great subtlety, in which the harpsichord becomes the true centre of the musical narrative.

 

Maria Peryt

Edward Elgar’s fascinating Enigma Variations, Op. 36, consolidated the British composer's reputation. Completed in 1899, the work consists of a theme and fourteen variations, each of which is a musical portrait of one of the composer’s friends. The "enigma" of the title refers to a hidden melody within the theme, which Elgar never explicitly revealed, prompting countless speculations that continue to this day. The work’s rich orchestration and the distinctive character of its individual variations – not least the noble, hymn-like Nimrod, No. 9 – make it one of the most remarkable examples of symphonic imagination from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

A different kind of “enigma” – a work we have yet to hear and one that naturally arouses curiosity – will be the world première of a new composition by Paweł Malinowski, commissioned by the Warsaw Philharmonic. Born in 1994, the composer has had his works performed at festivals including the Warsaw Autumn, Sacrum Profanum and Musica Electronica Nova. In 2016, he was awarded first prize in the Tadeusz Baird Competition for Young Composers. Paweł Malinowski’s music is often an intellectual play with memory and pre-existing sound objects, in which he reworks elements of popular culture and music of the past into a new, multilayered narrative, doing so with detachment and often with irony.

Dmitri Shostakovich wrote his Piano Concerto No. 2 in F major as a gift for his son Maxim, a pianist. Unlike many of the Russian master’s works, imbued with a sense of tragedy and heroism, this concerto is distinguished by its cheerful character. The three-movement work combines brilliant virtuosity with a transparent formal design, while its central movement – filled with nostalgic lyricism that seems to conceal yet another mystery: an undisclosed programme behind the music – is among the finest pages in the composer’s output.
 

Piotr Maculewicz

Edward Elgar’s fascinating Enigma Variations, Op. 36, consolidated the British composer's reputation. Completed in 1899, the work consists of a theme and fourteen variations, each of which is a musical portrait of one of the composer’s friends. The "enigma" of the title refers to a hidden melody within the theme, which Elgar never explicitly revealed, prompting countless speculations that continue to this day. The work’s rich orchestration and the distinctive character of its individual variations – not least the noble, hymn-like Nimrod, No. 9 – make it one of the most remarkable examples of symphonic imagination from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

A different kind of “enigma” – a work we have yet to hear and one that naturally arouses curiosity – will be the world première of a new composition by Paweł Malinowski, commissioned by the Warsaw Philharmonic. Born in 1994, the composer has had his works performed at festivals including the Warsaw Autumn, Sacrum Profanum and Musica Electronica Nova. In 2016, he was awarded first prize in the Tadeusz Baird Competition for Young Composers. Paweł Malinowski’s music is often an intellectual play with memory and pre-existing sound objects, in which he reworks elements of popular culture and music of the past into a new, multilayered narrative, doing so with detachment and often with irony.

Dmitri Shostakovich wrote his Piano Concerto No. 2 in F major as a gift for his son Maxim, a pianist. Unlike many of the Russian master’s works, imbued with a sense of tragedy and heroism, this concerto is distinguished by its cheerful character. The three-movement work combines brilliant virtuosity with a transparent formal design, while its central movement – filled with nostalgic lyricism that seems to conceal yet another mystery: an undisclosed programme behind the music – is among the finest pages in the composer’s output.
 

Piotr Maculewicz

In FeNek’s concert guide… Chrismas scores

 

Do you enjoy detective mysteries? Do you like searching for clues, tracks and hints? FeNek enjoys looking for them most in summer, when he travels the most. This year, however, things are different... Could winter, December and the approaching Christmas season be hiding mysteries of their own – musical ones, at that? Of course! Searching for Christmas symbols in pieces of music is a real adventure! FeNek invites you to a concert on 6 December, where you'll discover what the little fox has found in the December scores.

In FeNek’s concert guide… Chrismas scores

 

Do you enjoy detective mysteries? Do you like searching for clues, tracks and hints? FeNek enjoys looking for them most in summer, when he travels the most. This year, however, things are different... Could winter, December and the approaching Christmas season be hiding mysteries of their own – musical ones, at that? Of course! Searching for Christmas symbols in pieces of music is a real adventure! FeNek invites you to a concert on 6 December, where you'll discover what the little fox has found in the December scores.

In the first part of the concert, we will hear Antonio Vivaldi’s most famous and beloved composition - The Four Seasons, Op. 8 - in a masterful performance by Konstanty Andrzej Kulka. It was on 25 November 1959, that Kulka, then a 12-year-old virtuoso, gave his first solo violin recital in Gdańsk-Wrzeszcz. He will be accompanied by the Chamber Orchestra FILHARMONIA under the baton of Jan Lewtak, with Danuta Kojro-Pawulska on the harpsichord.

In the second part, we invite the audience into the world of Ennio Morricone’s beautiful film music, performed by soloists and the Chamber Orchestra FILHARMONIA under the direction of Jan Lewtak. Melodic vocalises will be performed by soprano Magdalena Schabowska. As always, the concert will be hosted by Paweł Sztompke.

Organiser: Fundacja FILHARMONIA

The Polish Music Scene is a programme of music organised by the National Institute of Music and Dance in collaboration with the Warsaw Philharmonic and financed by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage. We present Polish artists and Polish compositions – particularly works not often performed. We wish to promote the performance of Polish music, inspire musicians to turn to this repertoire and generate interest among audiences in Polish musical output as broadly understood. The programme is open to instrumentalists and singers, soloists and chamber ensembles. The programmes featuring Polish music, selected via a competition, will be performed in the Chamber Music Hall of the Warsaw Philharmonic and at other concert venues around Poland.

Christmas is a holiday full of paradoxes. On one hand, it brings joy at the arrival of the long-awaited Messiah. On the other, it recalls the story of his birth in poverty, marked by suffering and future sacrifice. Although the repertoire of Christmas carols theoretically focuses on a single event, it is not limited to a religious message. It is a multidimensional story about the culture, time and sensitivity of the people who have created Christmas stories over the centuries. Their lyrics and music, often strongly rooted in local realities, convey images of the flora, fauna, customs and emotions of a given place. For example, in a certain Baroque villancico, the baby Jesus appears as a bullfighter facing a bull – a figure of evil (he must lose this fight for his mission to be fulfilled).

The carol genre – seemingly perfectly familiar – turns out to be a space of endless invention. A single melody can be used in dozens of arrangements: from simple monophonic forms to complex vocal-instrumental textures. This diversity of the carolling heritage has been explored for many years by the Warsaw Philharmonic Choir, which each year offers a new, carefully thought-out programme of December concerts. The concerts feature works old and contemporary, Polish and foreign – diverse, yet consistent in their emotional power. All of this so that, if only for a moment, amid the darkness and cold of a winter’s day, we can relish the warmth that has emanated from the sounds of Christmas carols for centuries.
 

Bartłomiej Gembicki

Mikhail Pletnev has won recognition first and foremost as a conductor, and also as a pianist, specialising in stylistically assured interpretations of Russian music. He now lives in Switzerland, where he founded the Rachmaninoff International Orchestra, which, in his own words, “embodies a belief in the power of music to transcend borders and unite people from different cultures”. Pletnev is also a composer, and Warsaw audiences will have an opportunity to hear his new Suite for Cello and Orchestra, with the solo part performed by one of today's most acclaimed and charismatic masters of the instrument, Steven Isserlis. Pletnev readily admits that he avoids the pursuit of novelty, remaining firmly rooted in the great post-Romantic tradition, with Rachmaninov’s emotionally charged style serving as his model. In the cello he sees, above all, an instrument of great lyricism and expressiveness, but also one capable of dazzling virtuosity.

The evening’s second work corresponds to the first in terms of genre, being likewise a suite assembled from a sequence of colourful, relatively brief episodes from Pyotr Tchaikovsky’s ballet The Sleeping Beauty. First staged in St Petersburg in 1890 to choreography by the celebrated Marius Petipa, the ballet quickly became one of the pillars of the classical repertoire. Although initially received with reserve outside Russia, it gradually gained immense popularity. The score, rich in beautiful and kaleidoscopically varied musical images, inspired numerous later arrangements, such as the dazzling suite freely compiled by Mikhail Pletnev.

 

Piotr Maculewicz

Mikhail Pletnev has won recognition first and foremost as a conductor, and also as a pianist, specialising in stylistically assured interpretations of Russian music. He now lives in Switzerland, where he founded the Rachmaninoff International Orchestra, which, in his own words, “embodies a belief in the power of music to transcend borders and unite people from different cultures”. Pletnev is also a composer, and Warsaw audiences will have an opportunity to hear his new Suite for Cello and Orchestra, with the solo part performed by one of today's most acclaimed and charismatic masters of the instrument, Steven Isserlis. Pletnev readily admits that he avoids the pursuit of novelty, remaining firmly rooted in the great post-Romantic tradition, with Rachmaninov’s emotionally charged style serving as his model. In the cello he sees, above all, an instrument of great lyricism and expressiveness, but also one capable of dazzling virtuosity.

The evening’s second work corresponds to the first in terms of genre, being likewise a suite assembled from a sequence of colourful, relatively brief episodes from Pyotr Tchaikovsky’s ballet The Sleeping Beauty. First staged in St Petersburg in 1890 to choreography by the celebrated Marius Petipa, the ballet quickly became one of the pillars of the classical repertoire. Although initially received with reserve outside Russia, it gradually gained immense popularity. The score, rich in beautiful and kaleidoscopically varied musical images, inspired numerous later arrangements, such as the dazzling suite freely compiled by Mikhail Pletnev.

 

Piotr Maculewicz

Have you ever listened to stories of brave heroes told through music? The ones our musicians have prepared will open the door to a world of mystery, courtly intrigue and loyal friendship. Music will be our guide through a story where courage, teamwork and cunning matter most. As we listen together, the concert will become a fascinating adventure – like following in the footsteps of the heroes of a classic novel.

Have you ever listened to stories of brave heroes told through music? The ones our musicians have prepared will open the door to a world of mystery, courtly intrigue and loyal friendship. Music will be our guide through a story where courage, teamwork and cunning matter most. As we listen together, the concert will become a fascinating adventure – like following in the footsteps of the heroes of a classic novel.

Grigory Sokolov is undoubtedly one of the greatest individualists in contemporary piano playing. For him, concerts are not only a place where he can meet an audience, but also virtually his sole medium of musical expression. He avoids interviews, shuns recording studios and is reluctant to reveal the behind-the-scenes work that goes into his performances. He puts together his recital programmes himself, often keeping them secret until the last minute – as if he wanted listening to remain an act of pure, unbiased contemplation.

Critics, resorting to the boldest metaphors, point to the uniqueness of his interpretations, characterised by extraordinary concentration, spontaneity and poetic depth. His repertoire includes not only classic works, but also pieces composed long before the piano was invented: from transcriptions of medieval music, through Johann Sebastian Bach, Fryderyk Chopin and Franz Schubert, to Igor Stravinsky.

Sokolov’s recitals take place in semi-darkness, which enhances the focus and intimacy of the audience’s experience. This is no accident, but an element of carefully planned dramaturgy. Loyal listeners, who have been flocking to his Warsaw performances for years, know that a real concert does not end with the last piece on the programme. That is followed by a separate ritual – a series of encores, which form a separate act in the musical drama. It is then that Sokolov, silent off stage, invites his listeners to partake in an extraordinary dialogue.
 

Bartłomiej Gembicki

Jak u Dumasa! Trzech bohaterów, wspólna misja i wyprawy pełne dźwiękowych pojedynków. Obój, fagot i fortepian wcielą się w muzycznych muszkieterów! Instrumenty będą ze sobą rozmawiać, żartować i wspólnie przeżywać przygody. To koncert pełen zabawy i zaskakujących brzmień, za którymi ukrywają się opowieści. Program dla starszych słuchaczy opiera się na idei dialogu i współpracy między instrumentami, które poprowadzą dźwiękowe pogawędki, prezentując przy tym swoje barwy i możliwości. Lekka, narracyjna forma zachęci do uważnego słuchania i odkrywania muzycznych relacji.

Na koncerty z cyklu Spotkania z Muzyką w Filharmonii Narodowej zapraszamy wyłącznie zorganizowane grupy przedszkolne (od 5 roku życia) oraz ze szkół podstawowych.
O możliwości rezerwacji biletów na koncert 14 grudnia 2026 poinformujemy w późniejszym terminie.

Jak u Dumasa! Trzech bohaterów, wspólna misja i wyprawy pełne dźwiękowych pojedynków. Obój, fagot i fortepian wcielą się w muzycznych muszkieterów! Instrumenty będą ze sobą rozmawiać, żartować i wspólnie przeżywać przygody. To koncert pełen zabawy i zaskakujących brzmień, za którymi ukrywają się opowieści. Program dla starszych słuchaczy opiera się na idei dialogu i współpracy między instrumentami, które poprowadzą dźwiękowe pogawędki, prezentując przy tym swoje barwy i możliwości. Lekka, narracyjna forma zachęci do uważnego słuchania i odkrywania muzycznych relacji.

Na koncerty z cyklu Spotkania z Muzyką w Filharmonii Narodowej zapraszamy wyłącznie zorganizowane grupy przedszkolne (od 5 roku życia) oraz ze szkół podstawowych.
O możliwości rezerwacji biletów na koncert 14 grudnia 2026 poinformujemy w późniejszym terminie.

Christmas is a holiday full of paradoxes. On one hand, it brings joy at the arrival of the long-awaited Messiah. On the other, it recalls the story of his birth in poverty, marked by suffering and future sacrifice. Although the repertoire of Christmas carols theoretically focuses on a single event, it is not limited to a religious message. It is a multidimensional story about the culture, time and sensitivity of the people who have created Christmas stories over the centuries. Their lyrics and music, often strongly rooted in local realities, convey images of the flora, fauna, customs and emotions of a given place. For example, in a certain Baroque villancico, the baby Jesus appears as a bullfighter facing a bull – a figure of evil (he must lose this fight for his mission to be fulfilled).

The carol genre – seemingly perfectly familiar – turns out to be a space of endless invention. A single melody can be used in dozens of arrangements: from simple monophonic forms to complex vocal-instrumental textures. This diversity of the carolling heritage has been explored for many years by the Warsaw Philharmonic Choir, which each year offers a new, carefully thought-out programme of December concerts. The concerts feature works old and contemporary, Polish and foreign – diverse, yet consistent in their emotional power. All of this so that, if only for a moment, amid the darkness and cold of a winter’s day, we can relish the warmth that has emanated from the sounds of Christmas carols for centuries.

Bartłomiej Gembicki

The programme performed by the outstanding Danish NOVO Quartet features three works, two of which are linked in a fascinating way. Joseph Haydn’s String Quartet in F major, Op. 77 No. 2, belongs to the composer’s final set of string quartets and is a testament to his late style: characterised by formal clarity yet full of at times strikingly unconventional ideas. Particularly noteworthy is the minuet, with its highly unusual tonal design.

It was this very movement that inspired Entr'acte (2011) by the American composer Caroline Shaw. As the composer herself writes: ‘Entr'acte was written after hearing Haydn’s Op. 77 No. 2, with its hushed, soul-searching transition in the minuet [from F major] to the trio in D flat major. It is structured like a classical form but takes it a little further. I love the way some pieces suddenly take you to the other side of Alice’s looking glass, in a kind of absurd, subtle, Technicolor transition’. One of the most distinctive and versatile figures in contemporary American music, Shaw was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 2013, at the age of thirty, for her Partita for 8 Voices, becoming one of the youngest recipients of the award.

The concert concludes with Carl Nielsen’s String Quartet No. 3 in E flat major, Op. 14. The greatest Danish composer of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Nielsen is best known for his six symphonies and a substantial body of chamber music. Dating from the early years of his career, the quartet already displays the hallmarks of his style: rhythmic vitality, bold contrasts and a fondness for contrapuntal writing.

 

Piotr Maculewicz

Paul Goodwin is a conductor specialising in historically informed performance, seeking to remain as close as possible to the performance practices of the periods in which the works he conducts were composed. At the Warsaw Philharmonic, he will conduct two works separated by more than a century: Franz Schubert's Symphony No. 5 (1816) and Benjamin Britten's Saint Nicolas, Op. 42 (1948), whose subject naturally echoes the festive season now approaching.

Of Schubert’s six early symphonies, the Symphony No. 5 in B flat major comes closest to Mozart’s ideal of musical beauty. Written when the composer was just nineteen years old, it is a work full of youthful energy and optimism. It continues to be admired for its simplicity and melodic concision, as well as for the lightness and clarity of its form. Contributing to these qualities is the work’s modest orchestral scoring, omitting clarinets, trumpets and timpani, which Schubert most likely chose with performances by semi-amateur ensembles in mind.

The subject of Benjamin Britten’s nine-movement cantata is the life of Nicholas, Bishop of Myra and Lycia, who devoted himself to helping the poor and those in need (it was he who eventually became the prototype for the Christmas figure of Saint Nicholas). This monumental work will be performed by the Choir and Orchestra of the Warsaw Philharmonic, joined in an expanded line-up by, among other instruments, the organ, piano and percussion, together with the Artos Children’s Choir. A particular highlight of the concert will be the appearance of the distinguished British tenor Ian Bostridge.

 

Grzegorz Zieziula

Paul Goodwin is a conductor specialising in historically informed performance, seeking to remain as close as possible to the performance practices of the periods in which the works he conducts were composed. At the Warsaw Philharmonic, he will conduct two works separated by more than a century: Franz Schubert's Symphony No. 5 (1816) and Benjamin Britten's Saint Nicolas, Op. 42 (1948), whose subject naturally echoes the festive season now approaching.

Of Schubert’s six early symphonies, the Symphony No. 5 in B flat major comes closest to Mozart’s ideal of musical beauty. Written when the composer was just nineteen years old, it is a work full of youthful energy and optimism. It continues to be admired for its simplicity and melodic concision, as well as for the lightness and clarity of its form. Contributing to these qualities is the work’s modest orchestral scoring, omitting clarinets, trumpets and timpani, which Schubert most likely chose with performances by semi-amateur ensembles in mind.

The subject of Benjamin Britten’s nine-movement cantata is the life of Nicholas, Bishop of Myra and Lycia, who devoted himself to helping the poor and those in need (it was he who eventually became the prototype for the Christmas figure of Saint Nicholas). This monumental work will be performed by the Choir and Orchestra of the Warsaw Philharmonic, joined in an expanded line-up by, among other instruments, the organ, piano and percussion, together with the Artos Children’s Choir. A particular highlight of the concert will be the appearance of the distinguished British tenor Ian Bostridge.

 

Grzegorz Zieziula

In FeNek’s concert guide… list of presents

 

Waiting, counting down and listening out... Throughout December, there’s just one thing on FeNek’s mind: when will Christmas finally arrive? It’s such a wonderful time, filled with family warmth, cherished traditions and Christmas carols. To make the wait a little easier, FeNek has created a musical Advent calendar full of pieces, fascinating facts and little challenges. Each window we open brings us one step closer to the magic of Christmas and singing carols together. Come to the Philharmonic and join us in uncovering the mysteries hidden in FeNek's Advent calendar.

In FeNek’s concert guide… list of presents

 

Waiting, counting down and listening out... Throughout December, there’s just one thing on FeNek’s mind: when will Christmas finally arrive? It’s such a wonderful time, filled with family warmth, cherished traditions and Christmas carols. To make the wait a little easier, FeNek has created a musical Advent calendar full of pieces, fascinating facts and little challenges. Each window we open brings us one step closer to the magic of Christmas and singing carols together. Come to the Philharmonic and join us in uncovering the mysteries hidden in FeNek's Advent calendar.

Christmas is a holiday full of paradoxes. On one hand, it brings joy at the arrival of the long-awaited Messiah. On the other, it recalls the story of his birth in poverty, marked by suffering and future sacrifice. Although the repertoire of Christmas carols theoretically focuses on a single event, it is not limited to a religious message. It is a multidimensional story about the culture, time and sensitivity of the people who have created Christmas stories over the centuries. Their lyrics and music, often strongly rooted in local realities, convey images of the flora, fauna, customs and emotions of a given place. For example, in a certain Baroque villancico, the baby Jesus appears as a bullfighter facing a bull – a figure of evil (he must lose this fight for his mission to be fulfilled).

The carol genre – seemingly perfectly familiar – turns out to be a space of endless invention. A single melody can be used in dozens of arrangements: from simple monophonic forms to complex vocal-instrumental textures. This diversity of the carolling heritage has been explored for many years by the Warsaw Philharmonic Choir, which each year offers a new, carefully thought-out programme of December concerts. The concerts feature works old and contemporary, Polish and foreign – diverse, yet consistent in their emotional power. All of this so that, if only for a moment, amid the darkness and cold of a winter’s day, we can relish the warmth that has emanated from the sounds of Christmas carols for centuries.

Bartłomiej Gembicki

Christmas is a holiday full of paradoxes. On one hand, it brings joy at the arrival of the long-awaited Messiah. On the other, it recalls the story of his birth in poverty, marked by suffering and future sacrifice. Although the repertoire of Christmas carols theoretically focuses on a single event, it is not limited to a religious message. It is a multidimensional story about the culture, time and sensitivity of the people who have created Christmas stories over the centuries. Their lyrics and music, often strongly rooted in local realities, convey images of the flora, fauna, customs and emotions of a given place. For example, in a certain Baroque villancico, the baby Jesus appears as a bullfighter facing a bull – a figure of evil (he must lose this fight for his mission to be fulfilled).

The carol genre – seemingly perfectly familiar – turns out to be a space of endless invention. A single melody can be used in dozens of arrangements: from simple monophonic forms to complex vocal-instrumental textures. This diversity of the carolling heritage has been explored for many years by the Warsaw Philharmonic Choir, which each year offers a new, carefully thought-out programme of December concerts. The concerts feature works old and contemporary, Polish and foreign – diverse, yet consistent in their emotional power. All of this so that, if only for a moment, amid the darkness and cold of a winter’s day, we can relish the warmth that has emanated from the sounds of Christmas carols for centuries.

Bartłomiej Gembicki

The name of the soloist will be announced at a later date.

 

Dance began with the first step. Long before humankind created musical instruments, stages and ballet schools, people already carried within themselves the rhythm of walking, breathing and gesture. Moving together made it possible to forge bonds, celebrate, tame fear, imitate nature, flirt, joke, and sometimes even express what could not be put into words.

We know of no culture in which dance has been entirely absent. In many traditions, music, song and movement do not exist as separate realms but form a single organic whole. Dance may be ritual, celebration, contest, prayer, protest or healing. It is one of the oldest ways in which people experience their own bodies and the presence of another person. That is why – whenever we can – we should not deny ourselves the pleasure of dancing. We may dance ourselves, or simply listen to music that has preserved the memory of movement.

The Warsaw Philharmonic will provide just such a New Year’s Eve concert. The programme unfolds as a colourful celebration of dance: from the grace of ballet to displays of virtuosity, from Viennese lightness to Latin American sensuality, from the elegance of the salon to the rhythmic vitality of the street. It brings together works from different periods and countries, reflecting a wide range of temperaments – mazur, tarantella, waltz, galop, tango, foxtrot, polka and danzón, alongside music inspired by dance in its many forms, culminating in Maurice Ravel’s celebrated Boléro.

 

Bartłomiej Gembicki

The name of the soloist will be announced at a later date.

 

Dance began with the first step. Long before humankind created musical instruments, stages and ballet schools, people already carried within themselves the rhythm of walking, breathing and gesture. Moving together made it possible to forge bonds, celebrate, tame fear, imitate nature, flirt, joke, and sometimes even express what could not be put into words.

We know of no culture in which dance has been entirely absent. In many traditions, music, song and movement do not exist as separate realms but form a single organic whole. Dance may be ritual, celebration, contest, prayer, protest or healing. It is one of the oldest ways in which people experience their own bodies and the presence of another person. That is why – whenever we can – we should not deny ourselves the pleasure of dancing. We may dance ourselves, or simply listen to music that has preserved the memory of movement.

The Warsaw Philharmonic will provide just such a New Year’s concert. The programme unfolds as a colourful celebration of dance: from the grace of ballet to displays of virtuosity, from Viennese lightness to Latin American sensuality, from the elegance of the salon to the rhythmic vitality of the street. It brings together works from different periods and countries, reflecting a wide range of temperaments – mazur, tarantella, waltz, galop, tango, foxtrot, polka and danzón, alongside music inspired by dance in its many forms, culminating in Maurice Ravel’s celebrated Boléro.

 

Bartłomiej Gembicki

The two works on this evening’s programme form a narrative about the limits of human experience – between the disintegration of the individual and the foreboding of the end of the world, between the brutality of everyday life and metaphysical stillness. This is music that does not shy away from the most difficult questions, but instead gives them the form of an intense, deeply moving experience, reminding us that it is precisely in such moments that art most fully reveals its cathartic power.

More directly and more profoundly than in the case of many other composers, Gustav Mahler’s music resonated with his own personal experiences and reflections—especially those concerning life’s ultimate questions. His last completed symphony, the Ninth, came to be regarded as a farewell to the world, a kind of musical testament by a composer who did not live to hear its première. Mahler himself probably had no such intention, but his premature death at the age of fifty determined the way the work came to be perceived. Rich in allusions and symbols, and marked by sharply contrasting emotions, it also contains hidden references to his earlier symphonies and songs, including a deeply moving quotation from Kindertotenlieder in the finale.

Alban Berg’s opera Wozzeck is one of the most important works of the twentieth century – a deeply moving story of an ordinary man caught in brutal circumstances. Dark though it is, the work captivates through the extraordinary power of its expression and its evocative orchestration. It leads the listener through a dense, almost cinematic musical narrative, in which every sound has its significance, while the music can be unsettling and hypnotically beautiful at the same time. For concert performance, the conductor Hermann Scherchen asked Berg to prepare a concert version of the opera. The result was Three Fragments from Wozzeck for voice and orchestra, in which the composer not only condensed the drama but also brought out its contrasts and the mastery of its orchestration, creating an autonomous work that continues to appear regularly in concert programmes.

 

Piotr Maculewicz

The two works on this evening’s programme form a narrative about the limits of human experience – between the disintegration of the individual and the foreboding of the end of the world, between the brutality of everyday life and metaphysical stillness. This is music that does not shy away from the most difficult questions, but instead gives them the form of an intense, deeply moving experience, reminding us that it is precisely in such moments that art most fully reveals its cathartic power.

More directly and more profoundly than in the case of many other composers, Gustav Mahler’s music resonated with his own personal experiences and reflections—especially those concerning life’s ultimate questions. His last completed symphony, the Ninth, came to be regarded as a farewell to the world, a kind of musical testament by a composer who did not live to hear its première. Mahler himself probably had no such intention, but his premature death at the age of fifty determined the way the work came to be perceived. Rich in allusions and symbols, and marked by sharply contrasting emotions, it also contains hidden references to his earlier symphonies and songs, including a deeply moving quotation from Kindertotenlieder in the finale.

Alban Berg’s opera Wozzeck is one of the most important works of the twentieth century – a deeply moving story of an ordinary man caught in brutal circumstances. Dark though it is, the work captivates through the extraordinary power of its expression and its evocative orchestration. It leads the listener through a dense, almost cinematic musical narrative, in which every sound has its significance, while the music can be unsettling and hypnotically beautiful at the same time. For concert performance, the conductor Hermann Scherchen asked Berg to prepare a concert version of the opera. The result was Three Fragments from Wozzeck for voice and orchestra, in which the composer not only condensed the drama but also brought out its contrasts and the mastery of its orchestration, creating an autonomous work that continues to appear regularly in concert programmes.

 

Piotr Maculewicz

The Polish Music Scene is a programme of music organised by the National Institute of Music and Dance in collaboration with the Warsaw Philharmonic and financed by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage. We present Polish artists and Polish compositions – particularly works not often performed. We wish to promote the performance of Polish music, inspire musicians to turn to this repertoire and generate interest among audiences in Polish musical output as broadly understood. The programme is open to instrumentalists and singers, soloists and chamber ensembles. The programmes featuring Polish music, selected via a competition, will be performed in the Chamber Music Hall of the Warsaw Philharmonic and at other concert venues around Poland.

Sometimes it is difficult to return to everyday life. We remain in silence, as though a single word might shatter something fragile and profoundly important. Echo Sacrum leads to just such an experience, when time seems to stand still and we do not want to leave the Philharmonic.

For centuries, choral music has had the power to create a space of emotional resonance and a sense of goodness that needs no definition in words. The sacred is born of being together – of shared breath, shared sound and emotions that transcend the limits of ordinary communication. When the sound of dozens of voices permeates the listener, music becomes a deeply transformative experience, lifting us beyond the boundaries of everyday life.

Frank Martin’s Mass for Double Choir a Cappella leads us towards an intimate, almost existential spirituality. He composed the work during the second decade of the 20th century, yet for more than forty years refused to allow it to be performed, believing it to be too personal to share with the world. Its premiere finally took place in Geneva in 1963 and immediately moved its audience.

Rooted in the tradition of communal singing so characteristic of the Baltic countries, Rihards Dubra’s music is among the most moving examples of contemporary choral works. Often compared to Arvo Pärt and John Tavener, the Latvian composer creates luminous, unpretentious soundscapes, building emotional intensity through simplicity, silence and subtlety. His Te Deum offers a sense of lightness, focus and inner elevation. It is music that invites us to pause for a moment and reminds us that the sacred may also reveal itself through sensitivity and hope.

The Warsaw Philharmonic Choir is one of Poland's finest vocal ensembles, acclaimed for its exceptional refinement of sound, precision and versatility, with a repertoire ranging from early music to contemporary works. The choir regularly collaborates with many of the world’s leading conductors and orchestras, and its recordings have received numerous prestigious awards, including Grammy Awards.

Its chorus master, Bartosz Michałowski, is one of Poland’s most highly regarded choral conductors, renowned for his exceptional attention to colour, detail and the emotional depth of every performance. Under his direction, the Warsaw Philharmonic Choir has developed a distinctive sound and remarkable interpretative intensity.
 

Maria Peryt

The concert programme takes listeners on a musical journey, chiefly through the imagined, fairy-tale Orient, with its stereotypes and literary topoi. Many critics reproached Camille Saint-Saëns for the "eclecticism" of his music, particularly in comparison with the modernist explorations of his age. At the same time, however, they admired its beauty of sound, rich melodic invention, impeccable sense of proportion and colourful orchestration. The French neo-Romantic’s works possess something of the appeal of the technically accomplished canvases of nineteenth-century academic painters, populated by exquisitely posed figures from myth and history. Although the Piano Concerto No. 2 in G minor has eclipsed the composer’s other works in the genre, the Piano Concerto No. 5 in F major ‘Egyptian’, likewise emerges as an exceptional work, well worth rediscovering. It was composed during a winter holiday in Luxor, hence its subtitle, although Saint-Saëns himself recalled that the concerto was rather intended as a symbol of a great "sea voyage", evoking echoes not only of Egyptian, Nubian and Middle Eastern music, but also of Iberian and even... Javanese music.

Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade is one of the most popular and evocative symphonic works of the late nineteenth century. Inspired by One Thousand and One Nights, it does not tell the stories literally, but instead unfolds a sequence of colourful, Orientalist tableaux: from Sinbad’s sea voyages, through atmospheric palace scenes, to the joyful bustle of a festive Eastern street. The composer achieves these effects through masterly orchestration, full of brilliance, contrasts and refined combinations of instrumental colours. A particularly important role is played by the solo violin, symbolising Scheherazade herself as she spins her mysterious and sensuous tales. Exotic scales, dance rhythms and evocative musical imagery ensure that the work continues to captivate audiences while standing as an emblem of the highest artistry in orchestral writing.

 

Piotr Maculewicz

The concert programme takes listeners on a musical journey, chiefly through the imagined, fairy-tale Orient, with its stereotypes and literary topoi. Many critics reproached Camille Saint-Saëns for the "eclecticism" of his music, particularly in comparison with the modernist explorations of his age. At the same time, however, they admired its beauty of sound, rich melodic invention, impeccable sense of proportion and colourful orchestration. The French neo-Romantic’s works possess something of the appeal of the technically accomplished canvases of nineteenth-century academic painters, populated by exquisitely posed figures from myth and history. Although the Piano Concerto No. 2 in G minor has eclipsed the composer’s other works in the genre, the Piano Concerto No. 5 in F major ‘Egyptian’, likewise emerges as an exceptional work, well worth rediscovering. It was composed during a winter holiday in Luxor, hence its subtitle, although Saint-Saëns himself recalled that the concerto was rather intended as a symbol of a great "sea voyage", evoking echoes not only of Egyptian, Nubian and Middle Eastern music, but also of Iberian and even... Javanese music.

Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade is one of the most popular and evocative symphonic works of the late nineteenth century. Inspired by One Thousand and One Nights, it does not tell the stories literally, but instead unfolds a sequence of colourful, Orientalist tableaux: from Sinbad’s sea voyages, through atmospheric palace scenes, to the joyful bustle of a festive Eastern street. The composer achieves these effects through masterly orchestration, full of brilliance, contrasts and refined combinations of instrumental colours. A particularly important role is played by the solo violin, symbolising Scheherazade herself as she spins her mysterious and sensuous tales. Exotic scales, dance rhythms and evocative musical imagery ensure that the work continues to captivate audiences while standing as an emblem of the highest artistry in orchestral writing.

 

Piotr Maculewicz

Have you ever seen a Baroque portrait of a Spanish lady or a photograph of a flamenco dancer in a ruffled dress, with a fan in her hand? These and other characters will come to life through music from Spain. We'll imagine the proud and magnificent royal court of centuries past, as well as the towns and villages of Andalusia, alive with colourful folk traditions. To round off our concert, we'll present elements of the fiery flamenco alongside music from 20th-century ballets. ¡Viva España!

Have you ever seen a Baroque portrait of a Spanish lady or a photograph of a flamenco dancer in a ruffled dress, with a fan in her hand? These and other characters will come to life through music from Spain. We'll imagine the proud and magnificent royal court of centuries past, as well as the towns and villages of Andalusia, alive with colourful folk traditions. To round off our concert, we'll present elements of the fiery flamenco alongside music from 20th-century ballets. ¡Viva España!

Czy widzieliście kiedyś barokowy portret hiszpańskiej damy albo zdjęcie tancerki flamenco w sukni z falbanami i wachlarzem w dłoni? Te i inne postaci ożyją dla nas dzięki muzyce pochodzącej z Hiszpanii. Wraz z dziećmi wyobrazimy sobie dawny, dumny i bogaty dwór królewski, a także andaluzyjskie miasta i wioski tętniące barwnym folklorem, po czym zaprezentujemy elementy ognistego flamenco z dwudziestowiecznych baletów. Ze starszymi słuchaczami wybierzemy się w muzyczną podróż w czasie – przechodząc od barokowych suit, poprzez romantyczne opery z elementami żywiołowego folkloru, aż po współczesną twórczość pulsującą rytmami flamenco.

Na koncerty z cyklu Spotkania z Muzyką w Filharmonii Narodowej zapraszamy wyłącznie zorganizowane grupy przedszkolne (od 5 roku życia) oraz ze szkół podstawowych.

O możliwości rezerwacji biletów na koncert 18 stycznia 2027 poinformujemy w późniejszym terminie.

Czy widzieliście kiedyś barokowy portret hiszpańskiej damy albo zdjęcie tancerki flamenco w sukni z falbanami i wachlarzem w dłoni? Te i inne postaci ożyją dla nas dzięki muzyce pochodzącej z Hiszpanii. Wraz z dziećmi wyobrazimy sobie dawny, dumny i bogaty dwór królewski, a także andaluzyjskie miasta i wioski tętniące barwnym folklorem, po czym zaprezentujemy elementy ognistego flamenco z dwudziestowiecznych baletów. Ze starszymi słuchaczami wybierzemy się w muzyczną podróż w czasie – przechodząc od barokowych suit, poprzez romantyczne opery z elementami żywiołowego folkloru, aż po współczesną twórczość pulsującą rytmami flamenco.

Na koncerty z cyklu Spotkania z Muzyką w Filharmonii Narodowej zapraszamy wyłącznie zorganizowane grupy przedszkolne (od 5 roku życia) oraz ze szkół podstawowych.

O możliwości rezerwacji biletów na koncert 18 stycznia 2027 poinformujemy w późniejszym terminie.

They perform with the country’s leading orchestras on a daily basis, taking on some of the greatest symphonic works ever written and collaborating with distinguished soloists, singers, choirs and conductors. At the same time, they also perform repertoire written for chamber ensembles.

In the 1960s, Karol Teutsch (1921–1992) founded the Warsaw Philharmonic Chamber Ensemble, drawing on the pre-war chamber music tradition of the Warsaw Philharmonic. Building on that tradition, Jan Lewtak established the Warsaw Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra in 2002, under the patronage of Antoni Wit, and became its Artistic Director. Over the past twenty-five years—from the ensemble’s inaugural concert on 10 January 2002—the orchestra, now performing under the name Chamber Orchestra FILHARMONIA, has earned an international reputation through collaborations with such artists as Salvatore Accardo, Lorenzo Gatto, Philippe Giusiano, Evelyn Glennie, Ian Hobson, Krzysztof Jakowicz, Isabelle van Keulen, Konstanty Andrzej Kulka, Mischa Maissky and Shlomo Mintz, as well as through recordings for the Naxos, Sony and CD Accord labels. Its discography includes three monographic albums devoted to the music of Grażyna Bacewicz, Krzysztof Penderecki and Mikołaj Piotr Górecki. The orchestra also appears on the Warsaw Philharmonic’s 2013 Grammy Award-winning album, performing Penderecki’s Fonogrammi under the baton of Antoni Wit.

To mark the 25th anniversary of its concert activity, the Chamber Orchestra FILHARMONIA has joined forces with the celebrated mandolin virtuoso Avi Avital to present a programme that provides a fitting continuation of this story. The concert features works by Grażyna Bacewicz, Antonio Vivaldi and Pyotr Tchaikovsky, whose emotionally charged writing for strings touches the deepest chords of the human soul.
 

We wish them continued success.

An international career, high European politics and court intrigue – it is high time Giovanni Alberto Ristori was brough back from oblivion. His parents were musicians and actors, so the young composer’s future seemed almost predetermined. What it still required, however, was talent and good fortune. His youthful opera Orlando furioso was such a great success in Venice that Antonio Vivaldi could not ignore it and soon produced his own version of the story of the mad paladin.

When fate brought Ristori to the Polish-Saxon court in Dresden, he was appointed ‘Composer of Italian Music’ and director of the cappella polacca – the ensemble that entertained Augustus II and Augustus III during their stays in Warsaw. On one such occasion, he presented a ‘royal serenata’, in which he displayed a keen sense of musical illustration by creating musical portraits of Vulcan, Fame, Peace and Oblivion. Soon afterwards, he presented in Warsaw a similar work of diplomatic propaganda to mark the anniversary of the coronation of Empress Anna Ivanovna, who had supported Augustus III in his struggle for the Polish succession.

The composer was associated with two musically gifted women: Maria Amalia, Queen of Naples, and Princess Maria Antonia Walpurgis. The latter wrote the text for his cantata Didone abbandonata – the story of the tragically abandoned Queen of Carthage. During his stay in Naples, where his operas Temistocle and Adriano in Siria were staged with a star-studded cast, Ristori spied for the Saxon court. As the Queen's music teacher, he had access to her inner circle and regularly sent encrypted reports – some of which were intercepted – on court and political intrigues.

The music of this now-forgotten composer will be brought back from the shadows of history by Jakub Józef Orliński and the outstanding ensemble Il Pomo d'Oro under the direction of Maks Volbers.

 

Bartłomiej Gembicki

Mozart’s final three string quartets – the cycle that opens with K. 575 – are known as the ‘Prussian’ Quartets because they were intended (though not dedicated) for King Frederick William II of Prussia. This had musical consequences: the monarch was an accomplished cellist, and the cello part is accordingly given prominence. Published shortly after Mozart’s death, the quartets were received with great enthusiasm. As the Wiener Zeitung wrote: ‘Penned by a great musical genius shortly before his death, they display everything that constitutes art, beauty and taste in music’.

Edvard Grieg’s String Quartet No. 1 in G minor, Op. 27, is one of the most original chamber works of its time. After hearing it, Ferenc Liszt remarked: ‘It has been a long time since I encountered a new composition that intrigued me as much as this remarkable and admirable work’. Each of its movements draws on the melody of Grieg’s song Spillemænd, to a text by Henrik Ibsen, lending the quartet a strong sense of musical unity. The work is striking for its dense, almost orchestral texture, bold harmonies and dramatic intensity.

Dmitri Shostakovich’s String Quartet No. 7 in F-sharp minor, Op. 108 – the shortest of his fifteen quartets – was conceived as an intimate in memoriam following the death of his wife Nina. Commentators have noted the work’s extreme economy of means and the concentrated expression of its three movements, played attaca. The frequent use of mutes and the prominence given to individual melodic lines lend the music a cool, haunting tone. The central Lento offers an introspective portrait of solitude and grief, yet without any excess of pathos. Today, the work is regarded as one of the most deeply personal contributions to Shostakovich’s quartet output.

‘Young, cool and brilliant: the string quartet of the future’, wrote the Sydney Morning Herald of the ensemble in 2023. Since its foundation in 2012, Vision String Quartet has rapidly established itself as one of the leading ensembles on the international music scene, redefining the possibilities of the modern string quartet. Combining exceptional musicianship with electrifying originality, the four visionary musicians move effortlessly between the classical quartet repertoire and their own compositions, drawing inspiration from folk, pop, rock and minimalism.

 

Piotr Maculewicz

In Witold Lutosławski’s Novelette, five contrasting sections unfold like a hidden story, yet without suggesting any specific narrative. Tensions build through shifting colours and forms before finding their fulfilment in an expansive finale, which balances and completes the musical narrative. An important role is played by the aleatoric technique: Lutosławski precisely notates the musical material, while leaving the performers free to determine its synchronisation, so that each performance takes on a different shape.

Nico Muhly, a versatile American composer, moves with ease between classical music, opera and pop aesthetics. Written for Tine Thing Helseth, his Trumpet Concerto ‘Doom Painting’, whose title refers to depictions of the Last Judgement in medieval frescoes, draws on the archetypal biblical symbolism of trumpets. Its three movements present the instrument first in a ceremonial and processional role, then as the herald of the Last Judgement, and finally as a symbol of joy, often invoked in the Psalms, echoing the words of Psalm 150: “Let everything that has breath praise the Lord”.

Jean Sibelius’ Pohjola’s Daughter is one of the works inspired by the Finnish epic Kalevala. It tells the story of the hero Väinämöinen, who falls in love with the Daughter of the North and is set a series of tasks that he is unable to accomplish. Sibelius does not recount the story directly, but instead creates an evocative vision: a winter landscape, the movement of a sledge, a moment of revelation, and the dispersal of illusion. It is a myth to be experienced rather than told.

Richard Strauss’ brilliant comic opera Der Rosenkavalier enjoyed enormous success from the very beginning, thanks in no small measure to the exuberant stylisations of the Viennese waltz woven throughout the score. Strauss both ennobles the dance and playfully parodies its conventions. Jokingly alluding to his own surname, he also quotes works by Johann Strauss (how many times must he have had to deny being related...). The orchestral suite, prepared at the initiative of Artur Rodziński (one of the greatest Polish conductors of the twentieth century, associated, among others, with the Cleveland Orchestra and the New York Philharmonic), was first performed in New York in 1944.

 

Piotr Maculewicz

In Witold Lutosławski’s Novelette, five contrasting sections unfold like a hidden story, yet without suggesting any specific narrative. Tensions build through shifting colours and forms before finding their fulfilment in an expansive finale, which balances and completes the musical narrative. An important role is played by the aleatoric technique: Lutosławski precisely notates the musical material, while leaving the performers free to determine its synchronisation, so that each performance takes on a different shape.

Nico Muhly, a versatile American composer, moves with ease between classical music, opera and pop aesthetics. Written for Tine Thing Helseth, his Trumpet Concerto ‘Doom Painting’, whose title refers to depictions of the Last Judgement in medieval frescoes, draws on the archetypal biblical symbolism of trumpets. Its three movements present the instrument first in a ceremonial and processional role, then as the herald of the Last Judgement, and finally as a symbol of joy, often invoked in the Psalms, echoing the words of Psalm 150: “Let everything that has breath praise the Lord”.

Jean Sibelius’ Pohjola’s Daughter is one of the works inspired by the Finnish epic Kalevala. It tells the story of the hero Väinämöinen, who falls in love with the Daughter of the North and is set a series of tasks that he is unable to accomplish. Sibelius does not recount the story directly, but instead creates an evocative vision: a winter landscape, the movement of a sledge, a moment of revelation, and the dispersal of illusion. It is a myth to be experienced rather than told.

Richard Strauss’ brilliant comic opera Der Rosenkavalier enjoyed enormous success from the very beginning, thanks in no small measure to the exuberant stylisations of the Viennese waltz woven throughout the score. Strauss both ennobles the dance and playfully parodies its conventions. Jokingly alluding to his own surname, he also quotes works by Johann Strauss (how many times must he have had to deny being related...). The orchestral suite, prepared at the initiative of Artur Rodziński (one of the greatest Polish conductors of the twentieth century, associated, among others, with the Cleveland Orchestra and the New York Philharmonic), was first performed in New York in 1944.

 

Piotr Maculewicz

In FeNek’s concert guide… a letter from Scandinavia

 

Two bright red plaits, cheeks sprinkled with freckles, and a smile from ear to ear – it can only be Pippi, the little girl who stars in so many wonderful stories. She's the one who has written FeNek a letter full of stories, jokes and... musical notes! What does the music of northern Europe sound like? What sounds drift across its mysterious lakes? What songs do Pippi's friends from Scandinavia sing? Come to the Philharmonic and listen out for FeNek's clues!

In FeNek’s concert guide… a letter from Scandinavia

 

Two bright red plaits, cheeks sprinkled with freckles, and a smile from ear to ear – it can only be Pippi, the little girl who stars in so many wonderful stories. She's the one who has written FeNek a letter full of stories, jokes and... musical notes! What does the music of northern Europe sound like? What sounds drift across its mysterious lakes? What songs do Pippi's friends from Scandinavia sing? Come to the Philharmonic and listen out for FeNek's clues!

The juxtaposition of the ‘world’ and ‘dreams’ may be read as a metaphor for retreating into the realm of dreams in the face of a harsh and inescapable reality. Such themes recur throughout the intimate song repertoire of composers from the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century. In a traditional song recital, the soloist – embodying the protagonists' deeply felt emotions and dramas – is accompanied by the piano. This time, however, baritone Benjamin Appl will be joined by the oustanding Jerusalem Quartet.

The programme opens with the Old Testament terror of Robert Schumann’s dramatic ballad Belsatzar, based on Heinrich Heine's poem about the Babylonian ruler whose lavish, blasphemous feast is interrupted by the harbinger of his inevitable death. Gustav Mahler’s songs echo the suffering of lost love, often linked to the composer’s youthful romantic attachment. Samuel Barber’s Dover Beach, in turn, offers a masterful portrayal of existential anxiety: a beautiful nocturnal seascape reveals the fear of a world stripped of faith and certainty, where the fragile closeness of another human being remains the only refuge.

Against such a sombre vision of the world, instrumental music brings momentary refuge in the realm of dreams: Johannes Brahms's impassioned Romanza and Anton Webern's sensual Langsamer Satz, inspired by a walk with his future wife.

The final part of the programme leads into a different world: cabaret, tango and Broadway. In Kurt Weill's songs, ‘world’ and ‘dreams’ acquire an urban rhythm, theatrical flair and a bittersweet glow. Catchy, sensual and seemingly light-hearted, the music is nevertheless tinged with irony and the longing of the exile.

 

Bartłomiej Gembicki

The distinguished Swedish pianist of Polish descent, Peter Jablonski, has for many years been a highly successful champion of Polish music on the international stage. He is particularly associated with the world premiere of Wojciech Kilar’s Piano Concerto in 1997, a work dedicated to him by the composer. Having in his extensive repertoire works by Fryderyk Chopin, Karol Szymanowski, Grażyna Bacewicz, Witold Lutosławski and André Tchaikowsky, whose music has only recently been brought back from oblivion, Jablonski now turns to a work that is rarely performed: Henryk Melcer-Szczawiński’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in E minor (1894). The work, which won a prize at the Anton Rubinstein International Composition Competition in Berlin in 1895, having been submitted under the title Concertstück, presents the soloist with formidable technical challenges. The introduction of quasi-folk motifs, together with a majestic monumentality radiating strength and optimism, lends the Concerto a distinctly national character. It may therefore be assumed that, much like the works of Henryk Sienkiewicz, it was written “to lift the nation’s spirit”. Melcer's work, together with the concertos of Aleksander Zarzycki, Władysław Żeleński, Zygmunt Stojowski and Ignacy Jan Paderewski, appears to bridge Chopin’s legacy and the pianistic style of Karol Szymanowski.

Melcer’s Piano Concerto will be preceded by the overture to Giuseppe Verdi’s opera La forza del destino (1862). The second half of the concert will feature Robert Schumann’s Symphony No. 3 in E flat major ‘Rhenish’, Op. 97 (1850). Inspired by the beauty of the Rhineland, this five-movement work combines nobility of expression with a joyful spirit. Owing to its vigorous, almost euphoric optimism, Schumann’s symphonic language may be seen as kindred in spirit to the musical rhetoric of Melcer’s Piano Concerto.
 

Grzegorz Zieziula

The distinguished Swedish pianist of Polish descent, Peter Jablonski, has for many years been a highly successful champion of Polish music on the international stage. He is particularly associated with the world premiere of Wojciech Kilar’s Piano Concerto in 1997, a work dedicated to him by the composer. Having in his extensive repertoire works by Fryderyk Chopin, Karol Szymanowski, Grażyna Bacewicz, Witold Lutosławski and André Tchaikowsky, whose music has only recently been brought back from oblivion, Jablonski now turns to a work that is rarely performed: Henryk Melcer-Szczawiński’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in E minor (1894). The work, which won a prize at the Anton Rubinstein International Composition Competition in Berlin in 1895, having been submitted under the title Concertstück, presents the soloist with formidable technical challenges. The introduction of quasi-folk motifs, together with a majestic monumentality radiating strength and optimism, lends the Concerto a distinctly national character. It may therefore be assumed that, much like the works of Henryk Sienkiewicz, it was written “to lift the nation’s spirit”. Melcer's work, together with the concertos of Aleksander Zarzycki, Władysław Żeleński, Zygmunt Stojowski and Ignacy Jan Paderewski, appears to bridge Chopin’s legacy and the pianistic style of Karol Szymanowski.

Melcer’s Piano Concerto will be preceded by the overture to Giuseppe Verdi’s opera La forza del destino (1862). The second half of the concert will feature Robert Schumann’s Symphony No. 3 in E flat major ‘Rhenish’, Op. 97 (1850). Inspired by the beauty of the Rhineland, this five-movement work combines nobility of expression with a joyful spirit. Owing to its vigorous, almost euphoric optimism, Schumann’s symphonic language may be seen as kindred in spirit to the musical rhetoric of Melcer’s Piano Concerto.
 

Grzegorz Zieziula

Igor Levit has devoted fifteen years to exploring Ludwig van Beethoven’s piano sonatas – works that occupy a central place in the pianist’s artistic life. He made his debut with the Sony Classical by recording late works by the Bonn master. Years of intensive work resulted in the release of Beethoven’s complete piano sonatas in 2019. Yet tonight’s programme shows that Levit’s exploration of this repertoire remains ongoing.

Beethoven’s sonatas are a milestone in the history of keyboard music. They have often been likened to the New Testament, with Bach representing the Old. They may be seen as a bridge between music-making in the home and the virtuoso concert repertoire, while also forming the foundation of modern pianism. In these works, Beethoven absorbed the achievements of his predecessors, tested the limits of the genre and, with each successive sonata, opened up new horizons. Above all, he pushed the instrument beyond its previously known limits, challenging pianists in the process. It is no coincidence that he is often said to have drawn from the instrument the potential of an entire symphony orchestra. His music bears witness not only to turbulent, impassioned emotions, but also to deeply moving, intimate lyricism and a hypnotic, almost fairy-tale narrative.

For this recital, Igor Levit has chosen four sonatas reflecting different stages of Beethoven’s creative journey: from the First Sonata, published at the close of the eighteenth century, through the dramatic experiment of Op. 31 No. 2, to the lightness of the later Sonata in G major, Op. 79, and the monumental sweep of the ‘Waldstein’ Sonata.

 

Bartłomiej Gembicki

The Polish Music Scene is a programme of music organised by the National Institute of Music and Dance in collaboration with the Warsaw Philharmonic and financed by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage. We present Polish artists and Polish compositions – particularly works not often performed. We wish to promote the performance of Polish music, inspire musicians to turn to this repertoire and generate interest among audiences in Polish musical output as broadly understood. The programme is open to instrumentalists and singers, soloists and chamber ensembles. The programmes featuring Polish music, selected via a competition, will be performed in the Chamber Music Hall of the Warsaw Philharmonic and at other concert venues around Poland.

The technically dazzling yet musically compelling Caprice in A minor for solo violin, Op. 1 No. 24 by Niccolo Paganini, quickly gained popularity and became the subject of arrangements by some of the greatest composers. This programme offers an opportunity to compare two settings of the work for piano and orchestra, written within a relatively short span of time yet representing strikingly different artistic visions. Whereas Sergei Rachmaninov’s Rhapsody presents Paganini’s Caprice in a late-Romantic guise, embracing both impassioned pathos and profound lyricism, Witold Lutosławski, in his Variations, gives it a motoric, modernist character tinged with sarcasm. The juxtaposition of these two works also presents a challenge of the highest order for the performers, one that can be met only by mature artists such as the Russian pianist Anna Vinnitskaya, who is based in Germany and has collaborated for many years with Krzysztof Urbański, an outstanding interpreter of 20th-century music.

One might say that the ballet Romeo and Juliet, created by Sergei Prokofiev in the 1930s, is itself a kind of variation on what is perhaps the best-known love story in history. Through his modern score, bearing the hallmark of Prokofiev’s style with its touches of grotesque and even ferocity, yet equally capable of lyricism and delicacy, Shakespeare’s drama acquires a renewed relevance, or perhaps a certain sense of distance. The music of one of the most important works in the history of ballet quickly became so popular that the Russian master arranged three orchestral suites from it, which provided the basis for the selection of excerpts performed at this concert.

 

Robert Losiak

The technically dazzling yet musically compelling Caprice in A minor for solo violin, Op. 1 No. 24 by Niccolo Paganini, quickly gained popularity and became the subject of arrangements by some of the greatest composers. This programme offers an opportunity to compare two settings of the work for piano and orchestra, written within a relatively short span of time yet representing strikingly different artistic visions. Whereas Sergei Rachmaninov’s Rhapsody presents Paganini’s Caprice in a late-Romantic guise, embracing both impassioned pathos and profound lyricism, Witold Lutosławski, in his Variations, gives it a motoric, modernist character tinged with sarcasm. The juxtaposition of these two works also presents a challenge of the highest order for the performers, one that can be met only by mature artists such as the Russian pianist Anna Vinnitskaya, who is based in Germany and has collaborated for many years with Krzysztof Urbański, an outstanding interpreter of 20th-century music.

One might say that the ballet Romeo and Juliet, created by Sergei Prokofiev in the 1930s, is itself a kind of variation on what is perhaps the best-known love story in history. Through his modern score, bearing the hallmark of Prokofiev’s style with its touches of grotesque and even ferocity, yet equally capable of lyricism and delicacy, Shakespeare’s drama acquires a renewed relevance, or perhaps a certain sense of distance. The music of one of the most important works in the history of ballet quickly became so popular that the Russian master arranged three orchestral suites from it, which provided the basis for the selection of excerpts performed at this concert.

 

Robert Losiak

Is simply daring to reach for your dreams enough to make them come true? Or is it sometimes better to make a plan and follow it carefully to avoid danger? Our musical production, Icarus’ Wings, takes as its starting point the mythological story of Icarus and Daedalus escaping from Crete. Ambitious and impulsive, Icarus longs to leave the gloomy, monotonous island by taking the most direct route – towards the Sun. His father, together with Ariadne – the voice of reason – warns him against recklessness, being deceived by appearances, and giving in to sudden emotions. Will Icarus heed the warning and, along the way, learn to follow... the music?

Is simply daring to reach for your dreams enough to make them come true? Or is it sometimes better to make a plan and follow it carefully to avoid danger? Our musical production, Icarus’ Wings, takes as its starting point the mythological story of Icarus and Daedalus escaping from Crete. Ambitious and impulsive, Icarus longs to leave the gloomy, monotonous island by taking the most direct route – towards the Sun. His father, together with Ariadne – the voice of reason – warns him against recklessness, being deceived by appearances, and giving in to sudden emotions. Will Icarus heed the warning and, along the way, learn to follow... the music?

As the long and rich history of the Chopin Competition in Warsaw has shown, Polish audiences are just as capable of championing artists from abroad as they are their own. One striking example is sixteen-year-old Tianyao Lyu, who quickly emerged as one of the revelations of the 2025 Competition. She also enjoyed exceptional support from the residents of... Poznań, where – sometimes affectionately known as Marysia (Little Mary) – she studies with the distinguished pianist, teacher and competition juror Katarzyna Popowa-Zydroń. A year before competing in the Warsaw Competition, she won the Grand Prix at the 31st Fryderyk Chopin International Piano Competition for Children and Youth in Szafarnia, renowned for the young composer's summer stays there. As she herself has said, studying in Poznań has helped her gain a deeper understanding of Polish traditional music, even including learning the steps of the mazur.

During the Competition, she captivated audiences not only with her flawless technique, but also with the lightness and pearly quality of her tone, as well as the maturity of her interpretations of some of Chopin's most demanding works in terms of dramatic expression. She returned to Poznań not only as a prize-winner, but also with the Warsaw Philharmonic Award for the best performance of a Concerto, further confirming her openness and enthusiasm for musical dialogue with other artists. Reflecting on her success in Warsaw, she said with a smile: ‘For me, everything is only just beginning’. It is therefore hardly surprising that, for her first solo recital at the Warsaw Philharmonic since the Competition, she has chosen a programme devoted to the music of the patron of these ‘Chopin Olympics’.

 

Bartłomiej Gembicki

Czy aby spełnić swoje marzenia wystarczy tylko odważyć się po nie sięgnąć? A może czasami warto jednak stworzyć plan i podążać ku niemu przemyślaną ścieżką, by uniknąć niebezpieczeństwa? Nasze przedstawienie muzyczne Skrzydła Ikara za punkt wyjścia obiera mitologiczną historię ucieczki Dedala i Ikara z Krety. Ambitny i porywczy Ikar pragnie wyrwać się ze smutnej i monotonnej wyspy najprostszą drogą – ku Słońcu. Jego ojciec, wespół z Ariadną – przemawiającą głosem rozsądku – przestrzega go przed lekkomyślnością, uleganiem złudnym wrażeniom i gwałtownym emocjom. Czy Ikar posłucha przestrogi, a przy okazji nauczy się podążać za… muzyką?

Na koncerty z cyklu Spotkania z Muzyką w Filharmonii Narodowej zapraszamy wyłącznie zorganizowane grupy przedszkolne (od 5 roku życia) oraz ze szkół podstawowych.

O możliwości rezerwacji biletów na koncert 15 lutego 2027 poinformujemy w późniejszym terminie.

Czy aby spełnić swoje marzenia wystarczy tylko odważyć się po nie sięgnąć? A może czasami warto jednak stworzyć plan i podążać ku niemu przemyślaną ścieżką, by uniknąć niebezpieczeństwa? Nasze przedstawienie muzyczne Skrzydła Ikara za punkt wyjścia obiera mitologiczną historię ucieczki Dedala i Ikara z Krety. Ambitny i porywczy Ikar pragnie wyrwać się ze smutnej i monotonnej wyspy najprostszą drogą – ku Słońcu. Jego ojciec, wespół z Ariadną – przemawiającą głosem rozsądku – przestrzega go przed lekkomyślnością, uleganiem złudnym wrażeniom i gwałtownym emocjom. Czy Ikar posłucha przestrogi, a przy okazji nauczy się podążać za… muzyką?

Na koncerty z cyklu Spotkania z Muzyką w Filharmonii Narodowej zapraszamy wyłącznie zorganizowane grupy przedszkolne (od 5 roku życia) oraz ze szkół podstawowych.

O możliwości rezerwacji biletów na koncert 15 lutego 2027 poinformujemy w późniejszym terminie.

The original? Or perhaps the most endlessly reimagined and rearranged composer in music history? Whatever the form in which his music is presented, Antonio Vivaldi remains the undisputed king of the collective musical imagination. His Four Seasons need no introduction. One of them – Winter – will also feature in Viva Vivaldi, in a surprising arrangement for recorder.

The programme also centres on works from another celebrated collection, L’Estro armonico, which transformed the way instrumental music was understood at the beginning of the eighteenth century. Published in Amsterdam in 1711, it quickly became an international sensation. Vivaldi’s music spread across Europe at remarkable speed, and his style had a profound influence on an entire generation of composers, including Johann Sebastian Bach.

The programme presents Vivaldi as a composer of extraordinary imagination, capable of turning instrumental music into stories full of emotion. The works featured in the programme are united by the energy and striking contrasts so characteristic of the Venetian master.

The evening's unexpected protagonist is the flute – an instrument to which Vivaldi gave an astonishing variety of expressive voices. In the celebrated and wonderfully witty Il Gardellino (The Goldfinch), the music almost literally imitates birdsong, full of lightness, ornamentation and dazzling virtuosity. La Notte (The Night), by contrast, leads the listener into a world of mystery and fleeting unease.

The programme concludes with a distinctive arrangement of Winter from The Four Seasons for recorder. One of the greatest evergreens in the history of music acquires a new sound – at once fragile and subtle. And perhaps this arrangement allows us to hear even more clearly Vivaldi's’extraordinary ability to paint nature and atmosphere in sound.

The Wrocław Baroque Orchestra is one of Poland’s leading period-instrument ensembles. It is one of those ensembles that bring masterpieces written three hundred years ago vividly to life through the freshness and vitality of their interpretations. Their concerts are intense, deeply engaging musical experiences, performed with passion and imagination. Jarosław Thiel, an outstanding cellist who has shaped the character of the Wrocław Baroque Orchestra since its foundation, is one of the leading figures of Poland’s early music scene. His interpretations combine historical awareness with naturalness and dramatic flair, achieving a result that is at once remarkably precise and contemporary in its emotional impact.

The soloist, Erik Bosgraaf, the Dutch recorder player and musicologist, is regarded as one of the world’s finest and most versatile performers of early music.

 

Maria Peryt

Hector Berlioz’s love of the theatre and his sensitivity to poetry were widely known. Tristia (literally ‘sorrows’), Op. 18, for chorus and orchestra, although its title alludes to Ovid’s collection of elegies, in fact draws on literary works by other authors. At the same time, the composer conceived it as a series of musical pages from his diary. The collection opens with ‘Méditation religieuse’, setting a poem by Thomas Moore and bearing the date ‘Rome, 4 April 1831’, followed by ‘La mort d’Ophélie’ (‘London, 4 July 1848’) and ‘Marche funèbre pour la dernière scène d’Hamlet’ (‘Paris, 22 September 1848’). Anyone who has read the composer's Memoirs or consulted the substantial volumes of his correspondence will have no difficulty associating these dates with episodes from his life: his stay at the Villa Medici on a scholarship and the story of his obsessive fascination with the Irish actress Harriet Smithson, the celebrated interpreter of Shakespearean roles and the artist’s first wife. Although the passion eventually faded, in 1848 he still devoted these two “musical epitaphs” to it. The song cycle Les Nuits d’été, Op. 7, for voice and orchestra, a highly evocative musical setting of six poems by Théophile Gautier, a close friend of Berlioz, was reportedly written with his second wife, the singer Maria Recio, already in mind.

Le Carnaval romain, ouverture caractéristique, Op. 9, which opens the second half of the concert, may be regarded as a remnant of Berlioz's opera Benvenuto Cellini (1838), rejected by Parisian audiences, from whose selected motifs the symphonic narrative of this work is built. As its title suggests, the music depicts the exuberant Carnival celebrations of the inhabitants of the Eternal City. Francis Poulenc’s music for the ballet Les Biches (1924) was composed at the request of Sergei Diaghilev, the founder and impresario of the Ballets Russes. The ballet depicts a drawing-room gathering of a group of aristocratic young people, filled with games that are not always innocent.

 

Grzegorz Zieziula

Hector Berlioz’s love of the theatre and his sensitivity to poetry were widely known. Tristia (literally ‘sorrows’), Op. 18, for chorus and orchestra, although its title alludes to Ovid’s collection of elegies, in fact draws on literary works by other authors. At the same time, the composer conceived it as a series of musical pages from his diary. The collection opens with ‘Méditation religieuse’, setting a poem by Thomas Moore and bearing the date ‘Rome, 4 April 1831’, followed by ‘La mort d’Ophélie’ (‘London, 4 July 1848’) and ‘Marche funèbre pour la dernière scène d’Hamlet’ (‘Paris, 22 September 1848’). Anyone who has read the composer's Memoirs or consulted the substantial volumes of his correspondence will have no difficulty associating these dates with episodes from his life: his stay at the Villa Medici on a scholarship and the story of his obsessive fascination with the Irish actress Harriet Smithson, the celebrated interpreter of Shakespearean roles and the artist’s first wife. Although the passion eventually faded, in 1848 he still devoted these two “musical epitaphs” to it. The song cycle Les Nuits d’été, Op. 7, for voice and orchestra, a highly evocative musical setting of six poems by Théophile Gautier, a close friend of Berlioz, was reportedly written with his second wife, the singer Maria Recio, already in mind.

Le Carnaval romain, ouverture caractéristique, Op. 9, which opens the second half of the concert, may be regarded as a remnant of Berlioz's opera Benvenuto Cellini (1838), rejected by Parisian audiences, from whose selected motifs the symphonic narrative of this work is built. As its title suggests, the music depicts the exuberant Carnival celebrations of the inhabitants of the Eternal City. Francis Poulenc’s music for the ballet Les Biches (1924) was composed at the request of Sergei Diaghilev, the founder and impresario of the Ballets Russes. The ballet depicts a drawing-room gathering of a group of aristocratic young people, filled with games that are not always innocent.

 

Grzegorz Zieziula

In FeNek’s concert guide… weather forecast

 

Early spring is a sign that the weather is about to change. Did you know that we can find the changing seasons in music too? That’s right – the seasons appear not only in nature but in music as well! Sounds can smell of spring, rumble like a summer storm and sparkle with the frost of winter. Together with FeNek and a mysterious detective, we’ll set off on a journey in search of weather phenomena and the first signs of spring. And who knows – perhaps we’ll discover other sound images as well. Come to the Philharmonic and join FeNek as we discover the seasons hidden in the notes – and beyond!

In FeNek’s concert guide… weather forecast

 

Early spring is a sign that the weather is about to change. Did you know that we can find the changing seasons in music too? That’s right – the seasons appear not only in nature but in music as well! Sounds can smell of spring, rumble like a summer storm and sparkle with the frost of winter. Together with FeNek and a mysterious detective, we’ll set off on a journey in search of weather phenomena and the first signs of spring. And who knows – perhaps we’ll discover other sound images as well. Come to the Philharmonic and join FeNek as we discover the seasons hidden in the notes – and beyond!

organiser: Foundation FILHARMONIA

 

In the first part, we invite the audience into the world of beautiful polish film music by Jerzy Matuszkiewicz, Waldemar Kazanecki, Wojciech Kilar, and Michał Lorenc. We will begin the second part of the program with a performance of Johann Sebastian Bach’s most famous organ work - the Toccata and Fugue in D minor (BWV 565) - played by organist Maciej Wota.
Next part - musical world of Zbigniew Wodecki, featuring the Chamber Orchestra FILHARMONIA conducted by Jan Lewtak, vocalists: Ewelina Siedlecka-Kosińska (soprano) and Marcin Jajkiewicz (tenor).
All arrangements for soloists and chamber orchestra have been created by Jan Lewtak.
The concert will be hosted by radio journalist Paweł Sztompke.

Can one imagine an intimate chamber music evening without the violin? Three outstanding musicians will prove that it is indeed possible: the German violist Tabea Zimmermann, the French cellist Jean-Guihen Queyras and the Spanish pianist Javier Perianes. Almost all the works they will perform in various combinations were written by 19th-century composers whose lives became closely intertwined at different stages of their careers: Clara and Robert Schumann, Johannes Brahms and Joseph Joachim. Their intersecting biographies gave rise to a remarkable stylistic kinship between their works. The instrumental miniatures heard this evening may be likened to lyrical poems.

Each of Robert Schumann’s Fantasiestücke, Op. 73 (1849), has a distinct character: a nocturne-like opening gives way to a playful scherzo before culminating in a fiery finale. The emotions that fill Clara Schumann's Three Romances, Op. 22 (1853), unfold like successive stages of love. Joseph Joachim’s Hebrew Melodies, Op. 9 (1855), were inspired by Lord Byron's celebrated poetry collection of the same title. The instrumental Four Ballades and Romances, Op. 75 (1878), by Johannes Brahms originated as vocal duets set to texts drawn from several collections inspired by folk poetry. The second half of the evening opens with Johannes Brahms' Three Intermezzi, Op. 117 (1892), and his Trio in A minor, Op. 114 (1891), both introducing the audience into the same poetic atmosphere. Between them comes a musical counterpoint: a selection of pieces from Signs, Games and Messages (1989) by the contemporary Hungarian composer György Kurtág. These works, too, are infused with poetry, speaking to us – as their title suggests – through an entirely different set of codes and aesthetic conventions.

 

Grzegorz Zieziula

Béla Bartók's Suite for Orchestra, Op. 3 (1905), marks the close of the early phase of his creative career and precedes his ‘period of silence’ – a time of crisis and a reassessment of his aesthetic ideals. This brilliantly scored work combines the idiom of the virtuosic, fiery dance style of Romani-Hungarian ensembles (verbunkos, familiar from, among others, Ferenc Liszt’s rhapsodies and Johannes Brahms’ Hungarian Dances) with the influence of Richard Wagner’s harmonic language and Richard Strauss’ colourful orchestration, both of which had a profound impact on the generation of the young Bartók.

Alongside the work by the Hungarian composer, the acclaimed Danish conductor Thomas Dausgaard presents two compositions by his compatriots, both rarely heard on Polish concert stages. The dominant figure in Danish musical life at the turn of the 20th century was Carl Nielsen. Following the premiere performance of his two-movement Flute Concerto in 1926, a Parisian critic wrote with admiration: ‘...it is full of zest and energy, and by no means lacking in humour’, neatly capturing the essence of the composer’s style. Nielsen combines classical clarity of form with a fondness for contrasts, surprises and rhythmic vitality, often marked by a distinctly ‘anti-Romantic’ character. This brilliant and highly original work is also a favourite of this evening’s soloist, Emmanuel Pahud, who is widely regarded as one of the world’s finest virtuosos of the instrument.

The composer and organist Rued Langgaard long remained underappreciated, occupying the margins of Danish musical life, which was dominated by Carl Nielsen, a generation his senior. He combined late-Romantic expressiveness with a visionary, often mystical imagination; today he is regarded as a highly original composer well ahead of his time. Among his six string quartets, the Third, composed in 1924, holds a special place: concise, cast in a single movement, and driven by a tense narrative (its Italian subtitle, ‘Rabbia’, means ‘rage’). Departing from the traditional cyclic form, this is a work of striking intensity and unease, foreshadowing sonic experiments that would not emerge until much later. It takes on a new dimension in Thomas Dausgaard’s compelling orchestration, premiered in 2024.

 

Piotr Maculewicz

Béla Bartók's Suite for Orchestra, Op. 3 (1905), marks the close of the early phase of his creative career and precedes his ‘period of silence’ – a time of crisis and a reassessment of his aesthetic ideals. This brilliantly scored work combines the idiom of the virtuosic, fiery dance style of Romani-Hungarian ensembles (verbunkos, familiar from, among others, Ferenc Liszt’s rhapsodies and Johannes Brahms’ Hungarian Dances) with the influence of Richard Wagner’s harmonic language and Richard Strauss’ colourful orchestration, both of which had a profound impact on the generation of the young Bartók.

Alongside the work by the Hungarian composer, the acclaimed Danish conductor Thomas Dausgaard presents two compositions by his compatriots, both rarely heard on Polish concert stages. The dominant figure in Danish musical life at the turn of the 20th century was Carl Nielsen. Following the premiere performance of his two-movement Flute Concerto in 1926, a Parisian critic wrote with admiration: ‘...it is full of zest and energy, and by no means lacking in humour’, neatly capturing the essence of the composer’s style. Nielsen combines classical clarity of form with a fondness for contrasts, surprises and rhythmic vitality, often marked by a distinctly ‘anti-Romantic’ character. This brilliant and highly original work is also a favourite of this evening’s soloist, Emmanuel Pahud, who is widely regarded as one of the world’s finest virtuosos of the instrument.

The composer and organist Rued Langgaard long remained underappreciated, occupying the margins of Danish musical life, which was dominated by Carl Nielsen, a generation his senior. He combined late-Romantic expressiveness with a visionary, often mystical imagination; today he is regarded as a highly original composer well ahead of his time. Among his six string quartets, the Third, composed in 1924, holds a special place: concise, cast in a single movement, and driven by a tense narrative (its Italian subtitle, ‘Rabbia’, means ‘rage’). Departing from the traditional cyclic form, this is a work of striking intensity and unease, foreshadowing sonic experiments that would not emerge until much later. It takes on a new dimension in Thomas Dausgaard’s compelling orchestration, premiered in 2024.

 

Piotr Maculewicz

The Polish Music Scene is a programme of music organised by the National Institute of Music and Dance in collaboration with the Warsaw Philharmonic and financed by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage. We present Polish artists and Polish compositions – particularly works not often performed. We wish to promote the performance of Polish music, inspire musicians to turn to this repertoire and generate interest among audiences in Polish musical output as broadly understood. The programme is open to instrumentalists and singers, soloists and chamber ensembles. The programmes featuring Polish music, selected via a competition, will be performed in the Chamber Music Hall of the Warsaw Philharmonic and at other concert venues around Poland.

In 1962, for the consecration of the newly built Coventry Cathedral, erected after the wartime bombing of its predecessor, Benjamin Britten, the foremost English composer of the 20th century, wrote the monumental vocal-instrumental work that soon came to be regarded throughout the musical world as a memorial to the victims of war and a manifesto of pacifism. The work’s sublime and deeply dramatic design is founded on the juxtaposition of the texts of the Latin Requiem Mass with the English-language poetry of Wilfred Owen, the soldier-poet killed in action during the First World War. The exceptionally large performing forces – symphony and chamber orchestras, mixed and boys' choirs, three vocal soloists and organ – are divided into three groups that perform successive sections in turn before coming together in the work’s finale. This arrangement seems significant in itself: it becomes the voice of all humanity, united in its plea for peace.

The composer’s plans for the premiere of the work also envisaged that the solo parts would be performed by artists of different nationalities representing the opposing sides of the conflict. It is therefore worth noting that the Warsaw presentation of this major undertaking – the performance of War Requiem – will fulfil this intention: under the baton of the distinguished Swiss conductor Charles Dutoit, the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra and Choir and the Artos Children's Choir will perform with renowned soloists from Poland, the United Kingdom and Germany.

Robert Losiak

In 1962, for the consecration of the newly built Coventry Cathedral, erected after the wartime bombing of its predecessor, Benjamin Britten, the foremost English composer of the 20th century, wrote the monumental vocal-instrumental work that soon came to be regarded throughout the musical world as a memorial to the victims of war and a manifesto of pacifism. The work’s sublime and deeply dramatic design is founded on the juxtaposition of the texts of the Latin Requiem Mass with the English-language poetry of Wilfred Owen, the soldier-poet killed in action during the First World War. The exceptionally large performing forces – symphony and chamber orchestras, mixed and boys' choirs, three vocal soloists and organ – are divided into three groups that perform successive sections in turn before coming together in the work’s finale. This arrangement seems significant in itself: it becomes the voice of all humanity, united in its plea for peace.

The composer’s plans for the premiere of the work also envisaged that the solo parts would be performed by artists of different nationalities representing the opposing sides of the conflict. It is therefore worth noting that the Warsaw presentation of this major undertaking – the performance of War Requiem – will fulfil this intention: under the baton of the distinguished Swiss conductor Charles Dutoit, the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra and Choir and the Artos Children's Choir will perform with renowned soloists from Poland, the United Kingdom and Germany.

Robert Losiak

Can musical Impressionism be combined with punk? Thirty years have passed since the release of Jean-Yves Thibaudet's recording of Claude Debussy’s complete piano preludes. The French pianist’s interpretations were praised for their precision and meticulous attention to every musical detail. A few years ago, the recording was reissued on vinyl in a special edition featuring striking artwork by Vivienne Westwood. The legendary British fashion designer, associated with the rebellious aesthetic of punk, designed Thibaudet’s concert attire for many years. Their close collaboration and friendship culminated in a shared interpretation of Debussy's Preludes – one expressed through both music and visual art.

These miniatures rank among the most groundbreaking achievements in the piano repertoire. Debussy composed them at a remarkable pace, capturing his musical visions in two collections published at the beginning of the twentieth century. Despite their evocative and imaginative titles – such as The Sunken Cathedral, Footsteps in the Snow and What the West Wind Has Seen – they are not intended as literal illustrations. Originally, the titles appeared only at the very end of each piece, enclosed in parentheses and preceded by an ellipsis. They served merely as points of departure for exploration of entirely new, intensely sensual soundscapes.

Listening to all twenty-four Preludes in a single evening can be compared to visiting one of today’s popular immersive exhibitions. The metaphor of ‘immersion’ perfectly reflects the nature of this music, which nourishes the imagination.

 

Bartłomiej Gembicki

What if, for just one evening, the boundary between reality and imagination were to disappear? One Thousand and One Nights lead us into a world of sensuality, mystery and desert landscapes, where every motif becomes a story woven from dusk until dawn.

Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, the father of an orchestral style that dominated the imagination of countless composers and audiences well into the first half of the 20th century, was renowned for an unparalleled timbral imagination, which he brought to life through the medium of the symphony orchestra. His Scheherazade, inspired by One Thousand and One Nights, became one of the greatest evergreens of classical music almost immediately after its premiere. Written long before the advent of sound cinema, it continues to captivate audiences with its sweeping narrative and vivid imagery, which have inspired generations of film composers.

Scheherazade remains an extraordinary and richly layered work – a suite filled with fairy-tale narrative, psychological tension and 19th-century visions of the Orient. Rimsky-Korsakov himself stressed, however, that he had no intention of illustrating the stories literally. In time, he became increasingly frustrated that audiences treated the work as programme music, attaching too much importance to its individual titles and scenes. His intention was rather to awaken the imagination, creating music that evokes an atmosphere of mystery, adventure and storytelling that resists any single interpretation.

For many years, the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra has ranked among Europe’s finest symphony orchestras, admired for its virtuosity, precision and exceptional refinement of sound. Under Krzysztof Urbański's baton, Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherazade acquires an added intensity, dramatic tension and cinematic sweep. Urbański is regarded as one of today's most charismatic conductors, and his interpretations are renowned for their energy and exceptional finesse in revealing the orchestra’s finest nuances of sound.

 

Maria Peryt

Grażyna Bacewicz's youthful Scherzo for piano (1934) seems to allude to the name of the genre itself (scherzo means ‘joke’ in Italian), although this has not always been the rule; many scherzos, whether conceived as independent works or as movements of sonatas or symphonies, are instead marked by a serious or even dramatic character. In Bacewicz’s composition, lively motion, unexpected accents, dynamic contrasts and sudden twists immediately catch the listener's attention. All these features are superbly highlighted by Krzysztof Urbański’s colourful orchestration, closely reflecting the style of Bacewicz's works from that period, giving a new dimension to a work that is once again finding its place on the concert stage.

It is hard to believe that Edward Elgar’s Cello Concerto in E minor was not a success at its premiere in 1919 and for many years was performed only occasionally. It was only the inspired 1965 recording by the young Jacqueline du Pré that did justice to this unjustly neglected masterpiece and marked the beginning of the revival of Elgar's music. Composed under the impact of the traumatic experiences of the Great War, this elegiac work is technically demanding without relying on displays of virtuosity. It commands admiration for the richness of its thematic invention, its distinctive harmonic colouring and, above all, the depth of its emotional expression.

Piotr Maculewicz

Antonín Dvořák’s Symphony No. 9 in E minor ‘From the New World’, Op. 95, is surely one of the best-known musical postcards of the late Romantic era, judging by how often it continues to be ‘reproduced’ today. The Czech composer created a deeply moving and compelling musical impression of his stay in the United States – still the New World from the perspective of Europeans at the time. Some of the Symphony’s distinctive and instantly memorable themes grew out of the composer’s fascination with the traditions of multicultural America, in which he saw a source of inspiration for the music of the future.

Bartłomiej Gembicki

Grażyna Bacewicz's youthful Scherzo for piano (1934) seems to allude to the name of the genre itself (scherzo means ‘joke’ in Italian), although this has not always been the rule; many scherzos, whether conceived as independent works or as movements of sonatas or symphonies, are instead marked by a serious or even dramatic character. In Bacewicz’s composition, lively motion, unexpected accents, dynamic contrasts and sudden twists immediately catch the listener's attention. All these features are superbly highlighted by Krzysztof Urbański’s colourful orchestration, closely reflecting the style of Bacewicz's works from that period, giving a new dimension to a work that is once again finding its place on the concert stage.

It is hard to believe that Edward Elgar’s Cello Concerto in E minor was not a success at its premiere in 1919 and for many years was performed only occasionally. It was only the inspired 1965 recording by the young Jacqueline du Pré that did justice to this unjustly neglected masterpiece and marked the beginning of the revival of Elgar's music. Composed under the impact of the traumatic experiences of the Great War, this elegiac work is technically demanding without relying on displays of virtuosity. It commands admiration for the richness of its thematic invention, its distinctive harmonic colouring and, above all, the depth of its emotional expression.

Piotr Maculewicz

Antonín Dvořák’s Symphony No. 9 in E minor ‘From the New World’, Op. 95, is surely one of the best-known musical postcards of the late Romantic era, judging by how often it continues to be ‘reproduced’ today. The Czech composer created a deeply moving and compelling musical impression of his stay in the United States – still the New World from the perspective of Europeans at the time. Some of the Symphony’s distinctive and instantly memorable themes grew out of the composer’s fascination with the traditions of multicultural America, in which he saw a source of inspiration for the music of the future.

Bartłomiej Gembicki

We’re taking you on another musical journey! Can you guess where? Our first stop will be the capital city through which the River Seine flows, before we head south to Provence and the charming city of Avignon. Listen for a moment to these words: bonjour, salut, ça va... Do you know where the music is taking us? That’s right – we’re off to France, and above all to its capital, Paris. A whole range of melodies awaits us: some composed only recently, and others that children and grown-ups were humming as long as six hundred years ago!

We’re taking you on another musical journey! Can you guess where? Our first stop will be the capital city through which the River Seine flows, before we head south to Provence and the charming city of Avignon. Listen for a moment to these words: bonjour, salut, ça va... Do you know where the music is taking us? That’s right – we’re off to France, and above all to its capital, Paris. A whole range of melodies awaits us: some composed only recently, and others that children and grown-ups were humming as long as six hundred years ago!

O czym opowiadają i jak brzmią dźwięki pochodzące ze stolicy Francji? Odpowiedzi poszukamy w dziełach wokalnych i fortepianowych. Młodsi słuchacze poznają urokliwe kompozycje, śpiewane przez Francuzów nie tylko na scenach, ale także podczas spotkań towarzyskich. Posłuchamy utworów dawnych i nowszych: od lekkich, dziecięcych pieśni sprzed wieków, po wyszukane arie operowe znane szerokiej publiczności. Młodzież pozna francuskich kompozytorów, tworzących w różnych epokach, i charakterystyczne dla nich inspiracje kulturą innych krajów.

Na koncerty z cyklu Spotkania z Muzyką w Filharmonii Narodowej zapraszamy wyłącznie zorganizowane grupy przedszkolne (od 5 roku życia) oraz ze szkół podstawowych.

O możliwości rezerwacji biletów na koncert 15 marca 2027 poinformujemy w późniejszym terminie.

O czym opowiadają i jak brzmią dźwięki pochodzące ze stolicy Francji? Odpowiedzi poszukamy w dziełach wokalnych i fortepianowych. Młodsi słuchacze poznają urokliwe kompozycje, śpiewane przez Francuzów nie tylko na scenach, ale także podczas spotkań towarzyskich. Posłuchamy utworów dawnych i nowszych: od lekkich, dziecięcych pieśni sprzed wieków, po wyszukane arie operowe znane szerokiej publiczności. Młodzież pozna francuskich kompozytorów, tworzących w różnych epokach, i charakterystyczne dla nich inspiracje kulturą innych krajów.

Na koncerty z cyklu Spotkania z Muzyką w Filharmonii Narodowej zapraszamy wyłącznie zorganizowane grupy przedszkolne (od 5 roku życia) oraz ze szkół podstawowych.

O możliwości rezerwacji biletów na koncert 15 marca 2027 poinformujemy w późniejszym terminie.

Although the works featured in this programme belong to different orchestral genres, questions of musical structure and form seem here to be of secondary importance to emotional expression. Together, they lead the listener along a fascinating path from fairy-tale imagination and vital abstraction towards a stillness of profound spiritual depth.

Paul Dukas's The Sorcerer's Apprentice, rightly regarded as one of the best-known musical humoresques, is a symphonic poem based on a ballad by Johann Wolfgang Goethe. Composed in 1897, it remains firmly rooted in the language of late Romanticism, yet Dukas’ imagination unfolds a narrative that vividly recalls the soundtracks of animated films from the mid-20th century. The work’s evocative and vividly descriptive character was recognised by Walt Disney, who, in his 1940 animated feature Fantasia, cast Mickey Mouse as the sorcerer’s apprentice, thereby contributing to the popularisation this outstanding work by the French composer.

In 2023, marking the centenary of the birth of the internationally renowned conductor Stanisław Skrowaczewski, three distinguished virtuosos – Bartłomiej Nizioł, Krzysztof Grzybowski and Piotr Sałajczyk – embarked on a series of concerts presenting the European premiere of the Triple Concerto, a work composed in 1991 that reveals Skrowaczewski as a composer of bold musical imagination and outstanding craftsmanship. The dazzling richness of its orchestral colour and the display of virtuosity not only by the three solo instruments but, indeed, by virtually the entire orchestra, is combined with a touch of the grotesque, recalling the French neoclassical movement of the first half of the 20th century.

In the second half of the concert, conducted by Michał Nesterowicz, particularly admired for his deeply expressive interpretations of late-Romantic and contemporary music, the audience will hear Ralph Vaughan Williams’ Symphony No. 5 – one of the most important works by this outstanding English composer of the mid-20th century. The work’s dark colour, measured tempo and emotional restraint lend this symphony, composed during the turbulent years of the Second World War, a compelling atmosphere of spiritual contemplation and inner peace.

 

Robert Losiak

Although the works featured in this programme belong to different orchestral genres, questions of musical structure and form seem here to be of secondary importance to emotional expression. Together, they lead the listener along a fascinating path from fairy-tale imagination and vital abstraction towards a stillness of profound spiritual depth.

Paul Dukas's The Sorcerer's Apprentice, rightly regarded as one of the best-known musical humoresques, is a symphonic poem based on a ballad by Johann Wolfgang Goethe. Composed in 1897, it remains firmly rooted in the language of late Romanticism, yet Dukas’ imagination unfolds a narrative that vividly recalls the soundtracks of animated films from the mid-20th century. The work’s evocative and vividly descriptive character was recognised by Walt Disney, who, in his 1940 animated feature Fantasia, cast Mickey Mouse as the sorcerer’s apprentice, thereby contributing to the popularisation this outstanding work by the French composer.

In 2023, marking the centenary of the birth of the internationally renowned conductor Stanisław Skrowaczewski, three distinguished virtuosos – Bartłomiej Nizioł, Krzysztof Grzybowski and Piotr Sałajczyk – embarked on a series of concerts presenting the European premiere of the Triple Concerto, a work composed in 1991 that reveals Skrowaczewski as a composer of bold musical imagination and outstanding craftsmanship. The dazzling richness of its orchestral colour and the display of virtuosity not only by the three solo instruments but, indeed, by virtually the entire orchestra, is combined with a touch of the grotesque, recalling the French neoclassical movement of the first half of the 20th century.

In the second half of the concert, conducted by Michał Nesterowicz, particularly admired for his deeply expressive interpretations of late-Romantic and contemporary music, the audience will hear Ralph Vaughan Williams’ Symphony No. 5 – one of the most important works by this outstanding English composer of the mid-20th century. The work’s dark colour, measured tempo and emotional restraint lend this symphony, composed during the turbulent years of the Second World War, a compelling atmosphere of spiritual contemplation and inner peace.

 

Robert Losiak

In FeNek’s concert guide… histories of instruments

Why do we blow into some instruments, strike others, and draw a bow across the strings of yet others? Why are some shaped like a snail, while others look like an elephant's tangled trunk? Why do musicians sit where they do during a concert? And what do a certain boy, Peter, and a cunning wolf have to do with all this? FeNek, who lives at the Philharmonic, certainly knows the answers, so come to the concert and listen out for his clues!

In FeNek’s concert guide… histories of instruments

Why do we blow into some instruments, strike others, and draw a bow across the strings of yet others? Why are some shaped like a snail, while others look like an elephant's tangled trunk? Why do musicians sit where they do during a concert? And what do a certain boy, Peter, and a cunning wolf have to do with all this? FeNek, who lives at the Philharmonic, certainly knows the answers, so come to the concert and listen out for his clues!

The Polish Music Scene is a programme of music organised by the National Institute of Music and Dance in collaboration with the Warsaw Philharmonic and financed by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage. We present Polish artists and Polish compositions – particularly works not often performed. We wish to promote the performance of Polish music, inspire musicians to turn to this repertoire and generate interest among audiences in Polish musical output as broadly understood. The programme is open to instrumentalists and singers, soloists and chamber ensembles. The programmes featuring Polish music, selected via a competition, will be performed in the Chamber Music Hall of the Warsaw Philharmonic and at other concert venues around Poland.

What remains to us in a world of uncertainty, chaos and loneliness? Poulenc's answer is freedom. Lauridsen seeks solace in tender attentiveness. Although their music springs from entirely different experiences and aesthetic worlds, both composers lead us towards what is most deeply human – hope, the need for closeness, and the preservation of our inner sensitivity.

Francis Poulenc’s Figure humaine is one of the most extraordinary works of the 20th century. This cantata for double a cappella choir, composed to poems by Paul Éluard during the German occupation of France in 1943–44, became a symbol of the struggle for humanity. Across its eight movements, the work grows progressively darker and more unsettling. Yet the final movement, Liberté, reverses that trajectory, becoming one of the most important musical manifestos of freedom. Despite the work's subject, Poulenc, whose music is renowned for its refined lightness, does not create a monument to pathos. Quite the opposite: his cantata pulses with tenderness and hope, leading us from darkness towards the liberating power of community.

In Morten Lauridsen’s Nocturnes, night envelops a special and diverse experiences of human sensitivity. Drawing on poetry by Rainer Maria Rilke, Pablo Neruda and James Agee, the American composer creates music imbued with admiration for the fragility of human experience. The choir's profoundly intimate sound, suspended between contemplation and a sense of inner peace, gradually tempers the emotions. Out of the darkness of night, dawn begins to emerge – a dawn we greet with hope.

The Warsaw Philharmonic Choir is one of Poland's finest vocal ensembles, acclaimed for its exceptional refinement of sound, precision and versatility, with a repertoire ranging from early music to contemporary works. The choir regularly collaborates with many of the world’s leading conductors and orchestras, and its recordings have received numerous prestigious awards, including Grammy Awards.

Its chorus master, Bartosz Michałowski, is one of Poland’s most highly regarded choral conductors, renowned for his exceptional attention to colour, detail and the emotional depth of every performance. Under his direction, the Warsaw Philharmonic Choir has developed a distinctive sound and remarkable interpretative intensity.
 

Maria Peryt

The concert programme may be read as a musical tale of time and memory – on the ways in which music recalls, reshapes and confronts the past. From the Romantic vision of an imagined world in Carl Maria von Weber’s music, through Paul Hindemith's deliberate use of centuries-old motifs and historical forms, to the reflection on transience in Sergei Rachmaninov's late work, in which he confronts life's ultimate questions.

The overture to Weber’s opera Oberon, one of the most important works of early-Romantic music, heralds its dreamlike world: the sound of the magical horn, the subtle dialogues between instruments and melodies that foreshadow the opera’s arias combine to create a vibrant, richly contrasted narrative that transports the listener into a captivating fairy-tale world infused with an Oriental flavour.

The German composer and violist Paul Hindemith, while remaining apart from the avant-garde movements of his era, sought to restore clarity and disciplined ‘craftsmanship’ to music. He developed a modern musical language that nevertheless remained firmly rooted in tradition. In the Piano Concerto performed this evening, composed in 1945 during his wartime exile in the United States, Hindemith drew on historical models, such as the traditional three-movement form, but transformed them in his own distinctive way. His innovations were restrained and intellectual, focusing on formal construction rather than emotional expression. Particularly striking is the finale, which consists of ‘reverse’ variations: their theme – the medieval dance melody Tre Fontane – appears only at the very end.

Sergei Rachmaninov’s Symphonic Dances, Op. 45, his last major work, was likewise composed in the United States during the war years. This three-movement cycle combines vigorous rhythmic energy with a nostalgic glance back at the past. Here, too, the composer turns to a motif from the Middle Ages – the melody of the Dies irae, the requiem chant whose words evoke the terrifying vision of the Last Judgement. Together with a quotation from his own setting of the Orthodox All-Night Vigil, it creates a tension between doubt and redemption, giving this brilliant work the character of a deeply personal reflection.

 

Piotr Maculewicz

The concert programme may be read as a musical tale of time and memory – on the ways in which music recalls, reshapes and confronts the past. From the Romantic vision of an imagined world in Carl Maria von Weber’s music, through Paul Hindemith's deliberate use of centuries-old motifs and historical forms, to the reflection on transience in Sergei Rachmaninov's late work, in which he confronts life's ultimate questions.

The overture to Weber’s opera Oberon, one of the most important works of early-Romantic music, heralds its dreamlike world: the sound of the magical horn, the subtle dialogues between instruments and melodies that foreshadow the opera’s arias combine to create a vibrant, richly contrasted narrative that transports the listener into a captivating fairy-tale world infused with an Oriental flavour.

The German composer and violist Paul Hindemith, while remaining apart from the avant-garde movements of his era, sought to restore clarity and disciplined ‘craftsmanship’ to music. He developed a modern musical language that nevertheless remained firmly rooted in tradition. In the Piano Concerto performed this evening, composed in 1945 during his wartime exile in the United States, Hindemith drew on historical models, such as the traditional three-movement form, but transformed them in his own distinctive way. His innovations were restrained and intellectual, focusing on formal construction rather than emotional expression. Particularly striking is the finale, which consists of ‘reverse’ variations: their theme – the medieval dance melody Tre Fontane – appears only at the very end.

Sergei Rachmaninov’s Symphonic Dances, Op. 45, his last major work, was likewise composed in the United States during the war years. This three-movement cycle combines vigorous rhythmic energy with a nostalgic glance back at the past. Here, too, the composer turns to a motif from the Middle Ages – the melody of the Dies irae, the requiem chant whose words evoke the terrifying vision of the Last Judgement. Together with a quotation from his own setting of the Orthodox All-Night Vigil, it creates a tension between doubt and redemption, giving this brilliant work the character of a deeply personal reflection.

 

Piotr Maculewicz

How many different colours do you think three instruments can create? The flute, accordion and percussion prove that they can create a whole palette of colours! Their combined sound, enriched by the human voice, suprises with its richness and variety – it can soothe, set you dancing and carry you into uncharted realms of musical imagination. During the concert, we'll journey into a world of sound where every noise, sigh and rhythmic phrase paints a different picture. It will be atmospheric, energetic and unpredictable – because this is music that knows no boundaries.

How many different colours do you think three instruments can create? The flute, accordion and percussion prove that they can create a whole palette of colours! Their combined sound, enriched by the human voice, suprises with its richness and variety – it can soothe, set you dancing and carry you into uncharted realms of musical imagination. During the concert, we'll journey into a world of sound where every noise, sigh and rhythmic phrase paints a different picture. It will be atmospheric, energetic and unpredictable – because this is music that knows no boundaries.

Leif Ove Andsnes enjoys the admiration of audiences and critics around the world. The New York Times has described him as ‘a pianist of magisterial elegance, power and insight’, while The Wall Street Journal has hailed him as ‘one of the most gifted musicians of his generation’. Among the Norwegian pianist's most significant achievements is The Beethoven Journey, a project in which he performed Beethoven's piano concertos with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra more than 200 times. He has received numerous Gramophone Awards and has been nominated for a Grammy Award eleven times.

The pianist’s discography comprises more than fifty albums, and his insightful interpretations of Beethoven's music have earned particular acclaim. This makes a recital devoted to the composer's final three piano sonatas especially compelling. Together they form a world of their own – inward-looking, seemingly created for private contemplation. Although Beethoven's predecessors, as well as the composer himself, had established a set of conventional principles governing the sonata form, in the trilogy of Sonatas, Opp. 109–111, the last of the Viennese Classics abandoned that model in favour of a freer approach to musical form and its details. He brought the spiritual dimension of sound to the fore, and the sublime concluding Arietta of the Sonata, Op. 111 symbolically completes his reformist vision of the genre. These works may therefore be regarded as the testament of a visionary who chose silence over virtuoso display: a deaf composer who lost contact with the world of sound, yet gained absolute freedom – from the conventions and rules he himself had once shaped.

Piotr Maculewicz

Czy trio złożone z fletu, akordeonu i perkusji może zabrzmieć jak mała orkiestra? Przekonajmy się o tym, odkrywając nieskończoną paletę barw tych instrumentów. Wyruszmy na wyprawę po świecie dźwięków, podczas której usłyszymy, jak muzyka odmalowuje opowieści – zarówno poprzez nastrojowe melodie, jak i energiczne kompozycje. Zanurzmy się w bogactwie kompozycji XX i XXI wieku – od swingujących rytmów po awangardowe poszukiwania. Będzie to artystyczna podróż, która odkryje przed słuchaczami możliwości i ewolucję brzmienia nieoczywistego tria.

Na koncerty z cyklu Spotkania z Muzyką w Filharmonii Narodowej zapraszamy wyłącznie zorganizowane grupy przedszkolne (od 5 roku życia) oraz ze szkół podstawowych.

O możliwości rezerwacji biletów na koncert 12 kwietnia 2027 poinformujemy w późniejszym terminie.

Czy trio złożone z fletu, akordeonu i perkusji może zabrzmieć jak mała orkiestra? Przekonajmy się o tym, odkrywając nieskończoną paletę barw tych instrumentów. Wyruszmy na wyprawę po świecie dźwięków, podczas której usłyszymy, jak muzyka odmalowuje opowieści – zarówno poprzez nastrojowe melodie, jak i energiczne kompozycje. Zanurzmy się w bogactwie kompozycji XX i XXI wieku – od swingujących rytmów po awangardowe poszukiwania. Będzie to artystyczna podróż, która odkryje przed słuchaczami możliwości i ewolucję brzmienia nieoczywistego tria.

Na koncerty z cyklu Spotkania z Muzyką w Filharmonii Narodowej zapraszamy wyłącznie zorganizowane grupy przedszkolne (od 5 roku życia) oraz ze szkół podstawowych.

O możliwości rezerwacji biletów na koncert 12 kwietnia 2027 poinformujemy w późniejszym terminie.

The Polish Music Scene is a programme of music organised by the National Institute of Music and Dance in collaboration with the Warsaw Philharmonic and financed by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage. We present Polish artists and Polish compositions – particularly works not often performed. We wish to promote the performance of Polish music, inspire musicians to turn to this repertoire and generate interest among audiences in Polish musical output as broadly understood. The programme is open to instrumentalists and singers, soloists and chamber ensembles. The programmes featuring Polish music, selected via a competition, will be performed in the Chamber Music Hall of the Warsaw Philharmonic and at other concert venues around Poland.

Great music can outlive the circumstances in which it was written—even if those circumstances were banquets, open-air spectacles or one-off ceremonial occasions designed for immediate effect and quick profit. One of the finest examples of such functional music is Georg Philipp Telemann's Tafelmusik. The title literally means "table music": works intended to be performed during banquets and formal social gatherings. Yet this is far more than mere background music. It is entertainment of the highest order – brilliant, full of dance-like grace, instrumental dialogue and subtle humour.

Few artists could get away with bringing together so many eighteenth-century "greatest hits" in a single programme. In Ton Koopman's case, however, such a choice feels entirely natural. With his enthusiasm, stage energy and uncompromising approach to music, he dispels even the slightest suspicion that the programme is designed merely for easy effect.

Koopman is one of the foremost pioneers of historically informed performance, repeatedly arguing that early music belongs not behind museum glass but in performances full of vitality, energy and imagination. The music of Johann Sebastian Bach occupies a special place in his artistic legacy: his complete recording of the composer's cantatas earned him prestigious awards. Critics have long admired Koopman for his rare ability to combine profound scholarship with the sheer joy of music-making. That is precisely what audiences can look forward to in his concert with the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra, where he will conduct works by four composers particularly close to his heart: J.S. Bach, George Frideric Handel, Joseph Haydn and Georg Philipp Telemann.

 

Bartłomiej Gembicki

Great music can outlive the circumstances in which it was written—even if those circumstances were banquets, open-air spectacles or one-off ceremonial occasions designed for immediate effect and quick profit. One of the finest examples of such functional music is Georg Philipp Telemann's Tafelmusik. The title literally means "table music": works intended to be performed during banquets and formal social gatherings. Yet this is far more than mere background music. It is entertainment of the highest order – brilliant, full of dance-like grace, instrumental dialogue and subtle humour.

Few artists could get away with bringing together so many eighteenth-century "greatest hits" in a single programme. In Ton Koopman's case, however, such a choice feels entirely natural. With his enthusiasm, stage energy and uncompromising approach to music, he dispels even the slightest suspicion that the programme is designed merely for easy effect.

Koopman is one of the foremost pioneers of historically informed performance, repeatedly arguing that early music belongs not behind museum glass but in performances full of vitality, energy and imagination. The music of Johann Sebastian Bach occupies a special place in his artistic legacy: his complete recording of the composer's cantatas earned him prestigious awards. Critics have long admired Koopman for his rare ability to combine profound scholarship with the sheer joy of music-making. That is precisely what audiences can look forward to in his concert with the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra, where he will conduct works by four composers particularly close to his heart: J.S. Bach, George Frideric Handel, Joseph Haydn and Georg Philipp Telemann.

 

Bartłomiej Gembicki

The Gurre-Lieder tell a story of love, betrayal, jealousy, revenge and, ultimately, punishment. Their author, Jens Peter Jacobsen, drew on a medieval legend recounting the tragic love of King Valdemar IV Atterdag of Denmark and Tove, a lady-in-waiting. Their romance blossomed at Gurre Castle in northern Zealand. When the King's wife, Helvig of Schleswig, discovered the affair, she flew into a rage and killed the girl in the castle baths. Devastated by the loss of his beloved, Valdemar cursed God for allowing Tove to die. For this act of blasphemy, a terrible curse befell the king: after his death, every night at midnight, his spirit rides out from Gurre Castle through the surrounding forests and along the shores of the lake in the company of a host of ghostly knights.

Arnold Schönberg began setting Jacobsen's poems to music in 1900. He intended to submit the work to a competition organised by the Vienna Composers’ Association (Wiener Tonkünstler-Verein), but missed the entry deadline. Later that same year, however, he began to expand the work, composing, among other sections, the ‘Song of the Wood-Dove’ (Lied der Waldtaube), which would become its best-known movement. In 1903, he abandoned the project, returning to it only after his personal acquaintance with Gustav Mahler had enriched his artistic experience. Inspired by Mahler's mastery of orchestration, Schönberg finally completed the cycle in 1911.

The Gurre-Lieder were premiered in 1913 at Vienna's Musikverein. The performance by the Vienna orchestra, conducted by Franz Schreker, was met with great enthusiasm by the audience. The composer himself, who was present in the hall, showed no sign of gratitude. As a gesture of contempt for the criticism that Viennese audiences had directed at his more experimental works, he bowed only to the musicians. Such gestures are rare today, however. Christoph König, a conductor renowned for his interpretations of the repertoire of the German-speaking world, will no doubt extend his thanks to the audience as well.

 

Jan Lech

The Gurre-Lieder tell a story of love, betrayal, jealousy, revenge and, ultimately, punishment. Their author, Jens Peter Jacobsen, drew on a medieval legend recounting the tragic love of King Valdemar IV Atterdag of Denmark and Tove, a lady-in-waiting. Their romance blossomed at Gurre Castle in northern Zealand. When the King's wife, Helvig of Schleswig, discovered the affair, she flew into a rage and killed the girl in the castle baths. Devastated by the loss of his beloved, Valdemar cursed God for allowing Tove to die. For this act of blasphemy, a terrible curse befell the king: after his death, every night at midnight, his spirit rides out from Gurre Castle through the surrounding forests and along the shores of the lake in the company of a host of ghostly knights.

Arnold Schönberg began setting Jacobsen's poems to music in 1900. He intended to submit the work to a competition organised by the Vienna Composers’ Association (Wiener Tonkünstler-Verein), but missed the entry deadline. Later that same year, however, he began to expand the work, composing, among other sections, the ‘Song of the Wood-Dove’ (Lied der Waldtaube), which would become its best-known movement. In 1903, he abandoned the project, returning to it only after his personal acquaintance with Gustav Mahler had enriched his artistic experience. Inspired by Mahler's mastery of orchestration, Schönberg finally completed the cycle in 1911.

The Gurre-Lieder were premiered in 1913 at Vienna's Musikverein. The performance by the Vienna orchestra, conducted by Franz Schreker, was met with great enthusiasm by the audience. The composer himself, who was present in the hall, showed no sign of gratitude. As a gesture of contempt for the criticism that Viennese audiences had directed at his more experimental works, he bowed only to the musicians. Such gestures are rare today, however. Christoph König, a conductor renowned for his interpretations of the repertoire of the German-speaking world, will no doubt extend his thanks to the audience as well.

 

Jan Lech

The history of the piano trio is a story of the changing relationship between its three instruments. By the middle of the eighteenth century, the violin and the cello had already attained a degree of perfection that remains a benchmark for luthiers to this day. The piano, from which the genre takes its name, was only just taking its first steps on its three slender legs. Early trios were often associated with domestic music-making, and it was the piano part – sometimes played by the composer himself – that presented the greatest challenge. Joseph Haydn’s Piano Trio in A major is a good example of this stage in the genre’s development: the piano carries the musical argument, the cello reinforces the bass line, and the violin enters into dialogue with the pianist’s right hand. In Haydn’s later works, written in London towards the end of the 18th century, such as the Piano Trio in E flat minor, this balance begins subtly to shift, and the roles of the instruments evolve in increasingly surprising ways.

In the following century, the piano trio became a space for a much more equal dialogue between the three instruments. Antonín Dvořák's Piano Trio in E minor ‘Dumky’, is one of the most interesting examples of this transformation. It was the farewell work with which the composer set out on a tour of Czech towns and cities before his celebrated departure for the United States.

The enduring vitality of the piano trio is reflected in the existence of ensembles as outstanding as Trio Gaspard. It is for artists of this calibre that new works continue to be written, including Paul Wiancko’s Piano Trio, composed a few years ago, which the ensemble will perform in Warsaw.
 

Bartłomiej Gembicki

What does Tim Burton – a director of films poised between fairy tale and grotesque – have in common with the dignified classic, Joseph Haydn? The Swedish composer Albert Schnelzer argues that his orchestral miniature A Freak in Burbank was inspired by precisely these two figures, their common denominator being their original sense of humour. Humour and joy in an elegant, Rococo guise also sparkle throughout the youthful Oboe Concerto in C major, K. 314 (also known in its flute version), by the younger of the Classics, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, written for the Italian oboist from Salzburg, Giuseppe Ferlendis.

Maurice Ravel’s Rapsodie espagnole is not about literal ‘Spanishness’, but about conjuring up Spain through sound. It is a sensual, richly coloured work, built on subtle stylisations of rhythms and melodic patterns characteristic of the Iberian Peninsula (and Cuba too!), but above all on a dazzling, utterly masterly handling of orchestral timbres, in which, despite the impression of spontaneity, nothing is left to chance.

Claude Debussy’s slightly earlier, groundbreaking Nocturnes were seen as the musical counterpart of Impressionist painting (although Debussy himself disliked the label). Nuages almost suspend time in the hypnotic movement of shifting harmonies, while Fêtes evoke the atmosphere of a wild, phantasmagorical celebration – or perhaps its oneiric vision? In the nocturnal, mysterious Sirènes, the wordless vocalise of the chorus (the female voices of the Warsaw Philharmonic Choir will show their mastery here) merges with the orchestra to create one of the most evocative musical soundscapes of the turn of the 20th century.

François Leleux will appear in the rare dual role of oboist and conductor. Internationally acclaimed in both capacities, he is also renowned for premiering new works for the oboe.

 

Piotr Maculewicz

What does Tim Burton – a director of films poised between fairy tale and grotesque – have in common with the dignified classic, Joseph Haydn? The Swedish composer Albert Schnelzer argues that his orchestral miniature A Freak in Burbank was inspired by precisely these two figures, their common denominator being their original sense of humour. Humour and joy in an elegant, Rococo guise also sparkle throughout the youthful Oboe Concerto in C major, K. 314 (also known in its flute version), by the younger of the Classics, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, written for the Italian oboist from Salzburg, Giuseppe Ferlendis.

Maurice Ravel’s Rapsodie espagnole is not about literal ‘Spanishness’, but about conjuring up Spain through sound. It is a sensual, richly coloured work, built on subtle stylisations of rhythms and melodic patterns characteristic of the Iberian Peninsula (and Cuba too!), but above all on a dazzling, utterly masterly handling of orchestral timbres, in which, despite the impression of spontaneity, nothing is left to chance.

Claude Debussy’s slightly earlier, groundbreaking Nocturnes were seen as the musical counterpart of Impressionist painting (although Debussy himself disliked the label). Nuages almost suspend time in the hypnotic movement of shifting harmonies, while Fêtes evoke the atmosphere of a wild, phantasmagorical celebration – or perhaps its oneiric vision? In the nocturnal, mysterious Sirènes, the wordless vocalise of the chorus (the female voices of the Warsaw Philharmonic Choir will show their mastery here) merges with the orchestra to create one of the most evocative musical soundscapes of the turn of the 20th century.

François Leleux will appear in the rare dual role of oboist and conductor. Internationally acclaimed in both capacities, he is also renowned for premiering new works for the oboe.

 

Piotr Maculewicz

In FeNek’s concert guide… zoological fantasy

 

Something happened this morning that disturbed FeNek’s peace – he noticed signs that someone had been in the Philharmonic! A little feather was lying on a music stand, someone had made themselves a cosy den inside an instrument case, and there were tiny paw prints in the corridor leading to the dressing rooms. Could it be that other animals have moved in? If so, which ones, and why? To help answer all the questions that have been puzzling him, FeNek has called in a well-known zoologist. Will they help our little fox uncover these mysteries? If you’re curious to find out what cat music sounds like, where the birds’ gossip is hiding, and where to spot other furry creatures, come to the concert and help FeNek identify the tracks left by our new guests!

In FeNek’s concert guide… zoological fantasy

 

Something happened this morning that disturbed FeNek’s peace – he noticed signs that someone had been in the Philharmonic! A little feather was lying on a music stand, someone had made themselves a cosy den inside an instrument case, and there were tiny paw prints in the corridor leading to the dressing rooms. Could it be that other animals have moved in? If so, which ones, and why? To help answer all the questions that have been puzzling him, FeNek has called in a well-known zoologist. Will they help our little fox uncover these mysteries? If you’re curious to find out what cat music sounds like, where the birds’ gossip is hiding, and where to spot other furry creatures, come to the concert and help FeNek identify the tracks left by our new guests!

In the 19th century, the traditions of chamber music were cultivated not only in aristocratic residences, the homes of distinguished artists and concerts organised by local music societies, but also in conservatoires across Europe. It is no coincidence that the entire chamber output of the eminent Ukrainian composer Mykola Lysenko – consisting of just two works, a string quartet and a string trio – dates from his student years. In his four-movement String Trio in A minor for two violins and viola (1869), Lysenko introduced several motifs of a distinctly national character.

Published in recent years, the contemporary Danish composer Hans Abrahamsen’s arrangement of Franz Schubert’s six Moments musicaux, D 780 (1828), for octet (clarinet, bassoon, horn and string quintet) is his personal tribute to the Austrian composer.

Beethoven's Sonata in A major for Violin and Piano ‘Kreutzer’, Op. 47 (1803), was originally intended for George Polgreen Bridgetower, the enigmatic and eccentric mixed-race violinist of the Prince of Wales, who was said to have been born in Poland. The work was ultimately dedicated, however, to the French violin virtuoso Rodolphe Kreutzer. This concert features the rarely performed arrangement for string quintet, which gives the celebrated sonata a quite different sound world.

 

Grzegorz Zieziula

In the years leading up to 1819, Beethoven composed almost nothing. Rumours began to circulate that his creative powers had been exhausted and that he was capable only of producing trifles. His personal circumstances were equally bleak. He was plagued by recurring illness, had become completely deaf, and communicated with those around him through conversation books. He was short of money. He became embroiled in a legal battle to obtain guardianship of his teenage nephew Karl. Every few months he moved to a different apartment. He had neglected himself, and his appearance was distressing. Yet, in defiance of all these circumstances, the years 1819–1824 brought forth a succession of late masterpieces, each paving the way for new music It was during this period that he composed two monumental works: the Ninth Symphony in D minor and the Missa solemnis – both extraordinary, transcending the boundaries of their genres while being at once universal and deeply personal.

In the latter of these two majestic works, the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra will be conducted by Stefano Montanari, who is equally acclaimed as a conductor, violinist and pianist. He will be joined by outstanding soloists: soprano Anna Maria Labin, acclaimed both in the Classical repertoire and in the world premieres of contemporary operas; mezzo-soprano Teresa Iervolino, celebrated for her interpretations of Baroque and Romantic opera; tenor Daniel Behle, whose international career was launched by his appearance in Richard Wagner's Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg at the 2017 Bayreuther Festspiele; and bass Adolfo Corrado, winner of the 2023 BBC Cardiff Singer of the World competition. They will be joined by the Warsaw Philharmonic Choir under the direction of Bartosz Michałowski. With such an exceptional line-up, one of the greatest masterpieces of the classical repertoire promises an unforgettable musical experience.

 

Małgorzata Gąsiorowska, Jan Lech (eds.)

In the years leading up to 1819, Beethoven composed almost nothing. Rumours began to circulate that his creative powers had been exhausted and that he was capable only of producing trifles. His personal circumstances were equally bleak. He was plagued by recurring illness, had become completely deaf, and communicated with those around him through conversation books. He was short of money. He became embroiled in a legal battle to obtain guardianship of his teenage nephew Karl. Every few months he moved to a different apartment. He had neglected himself, and his appearance was distressing. Yet, in defiance of all these circumstances, the years 1819–1824 brought forth a succession of late masterpieces, each paving the way for new music It was during this period that he composed two monumental works: the Ninth Symphony in D minor and the Missa solemnis – both extraordinary, transcending the boundaries of their genres while being at once universal and deeply personal.

In the latter of these two majestic works, the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra will be conducted by Stefano Montanari, who is equally acclaimed as a conductor, violinist and pianist. He will be joined by outstanding soloists: soprano Anna Maria Labin, acclaimed both in the Classical repertoire and in the world premieres of contemporary operas; mezzo-soprano Teresa Iervolino, celebrated for her interpretations of Baroque and Romantic opera; tenor Daniel Behle, whose international career was launched by his appearance in Richard Wagner's Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg at the 2017 Bayreuther Festspiele; and bass Adolfo Corrado, winner of the 2023 BBC Cardiff Singer of the World competition. They will be joined by the Warsaw Philharmonic Choir under the direction of Bartosz Michałowski. With such an exceptional line-up, one of the greatest masterpieces of the classical repertoire promises an unforgettable musical experience.

 

Małgorzata Gąsiorowska, Jan Lech (eds.)

In May, all the birds sing about spring, but none more beautifully than the nightingale. Yet from one nest high in an acacia tree, instead of birdsong, all we can hear is complaining... It’s Mrs Nightingale, who can hardly wait for her husband's return. Do you know this song? If not, be sure to come to the concert! We’ll hear wonderful pieces by Witold Lutosławski, written especially for children who love music. The world of birds, animals, vegetables and other amusing characters will provide the backdrop to a concert during which we'll discover what a cluster is, what ad libitum and aleatoricism mean, and how the composer created his music.

In May, all the birds sing about spring, but none more beautifully than the nightingale. Yet from one nest high in an acacia tree, instead of birdsong, all we can hear is complaining... It’s Mrs Nightingale, who can hardly wait for her husband's return. Do you know this song? If not, be sure to come to the concert! We’ll hear wonderful pieces by Witold Lutosławski, written especially for children who love music. The world of birds, animals, vegetables and other amusing characters will provide the backdrop to a concert during which we'll discover what a cluster is, what ad libitum and aleatoricism mean, and how the composer created his music.

It is not often that a concert programme unfolds as such an intriguing mirror image. Whether viewed from beginning to end or in reverse, it reveals the same sequence of genres. At either end stand sonatas by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, while at its centre are variation cycles by composers from successive eras. Yet this symmetrical design conceals another musical surprise.

What, then, is the variation form? A composer presents a musical idea and then transforms it, changing its tempo, mood and colour – as though showing the same object in an ever-changing light. The Sonata in D major that opens the concert ends, unusually for Mozart, with an extensive cycle of variations, while the Sonata in A major that closes the evening, with its famous ‘Turkish March’, begins with one. As a result, we shall hear four entirely different approaches to the variation form in a single programme.

Within this Classical, Mozartian frame, a fascinating dialogue between eras unfolds. On the one hand are Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy's Variations sérieuses, steeped in Romantic darkness and the gravity suggested by their title; on the other, Aaron Copland's austere modernist work, described by the young Leonard Bernstein, who greatly admired it, as ‘the synonym of modern music’.

These works will be performed by the distinguished British pianist Paul Lewis. He is known for immersing himself completely, and unhurriedly, in the music of successive composers. This patient approach is reflected in interpretations that are profound, meticulously crafted and deeply respectful of the score. In seeking subtle connections between different eras, he also has a gift for creating programmes as thoughtfully conceived as the one he will present in his recital at the Warsaw Philharmonic.

 

Bartłomiej Gembicki

Jako mistrz wielkiej i małej formy, Witold Lutosławski zaliczany jest do grona najwybitniejszych kompozytorów XX wieku. Program dla młodszych słuchaczy wypełnią jego piosenki pełne humoru, zabawnych historii i dziwnych postaci oraz muzyka instrumentalna – czasami tajemnicza, innym razem zaskakująca – skomponowana specjalnie dla dzieci. Młodzież pozna szeroki wachlarz technik kompozytorskich, które stosował Lutosławski, inspirując twórców na całym świecie. Przeniesiemy się także do lat 50., kiedy pisał piosenki pod pseudonimem Derwid.

Na koncerty z cyklu Spotkania z Muzyką w Filharmonii Narodowej zapraszamy wyłącznie zorganizowane grupy przedszkolne (od 5 roku życia) oraz ze szkół podstawowych.
O możliwości rezerwacji biletów na koncert 17 maja 2027 poinformujemy w późniejszym terminie.

Jako mistrz wielkiej i małej formy, Witold Lutosławski zaliczany jest do grona najwybitniejszych kompozytorów XX wieku. Program dla młodszych słuchaczy wypełnią jego piosenki pełne humoru, zabawnych historii i dziwnych postaci oraz muzyka instrumentalna – czasami tajemnicza, innym razem zaskakująca – skomponowana specjalnie dla dzieci. Młodzież pozna szeroki wachlarz technik kompozytorskich, które stosował Lutosławski, inspirując twórców na całym świecie. Przeniesiemy się także do lat 50., kiedy pisał piosenki pod pseudonimem Derwid.

Na koncerty z cyklu Spotkania z Muzyką w Filharmonii Narodowej zapraszamy wyłącznie zorganizowane grupy przedszkolne (od 5 roku życia) oraz ze szkół podstawowych.
O możliwości rezerwacji biletów na koncert 17 maja 2027 poinformujemy w późniejszym terminie.

The Polish Music Scene is a programme of music organised by the National Institute of Music and Dance in collaboration with the Warsaw Philharmonic and financed by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage. We present Polish artists and Polish compositions – particularly works not often performed. We wish to promote the performance of Polish music, inspire musicians to turn to this repertoire and generate interest among audiences in Polish musical output as broadly understood. The programme is open to instrumentalists and singers, soloists and chamber ensembles. The programmes featuring Polish music, selected via a competition, will be performed in the Chamber Music Hall of the Warsaw Philharmonic and at other concert venues around Poland.

Can music that its composer rejected tell us more about him than the works he chose to leave behind? And do we have the right to such an experience, listening in when the composer never invited us to do so? #0 is a story of beginnings and endings, of hope and doubt, and of the moment when music stepped beyond its comfort zone.

La clemenza di Tito (The Clemency of Titus) is one of Mozart’s last operas, composed just a few months before his death. Written in haste to celebrate the coronation of Leopold II as King of Bohemia, it explores themes of power and its imagined responsibility, clemency and reason. Despite intrigue and betrayal, the Emperor Titus chooses forgiveness over revenge. The overture encompasses a wide range of emotions and finely nuanced tensions.

Joseph Haydn’s Symphony in D major, Hob. I:104, known as the ‘London’ Symphony, was the last symphony by the composer widely regarded as the father of the genre. The work is not only the culmination of his creative output, but also a synthesis of an aesthetic era defined by proportion and a reassuring sense of balance. Within the programme, the ‘London’ Symphony marks a turning point – the moment when the Classical symphony reaches its fulfilment while at the same time opening itself to its first fissures and more radical transformations.

The Bruckner work that concludes the programme is regarded as one of the most enigmatic in the history of 19th-century symphonic music. The Symphony in D minor was withdrawn by the composer from the official catalogue of his works. Bruckner considered it insufficiently successful and marked the score with the words gilt nicht (‘does not count’). Paradoxically, it is now Symphony No. 0 that is regarded as the moment when Bruckner’s distinctive and much-admired musical style was born.

 

Maria Peryt

Mark Minkowski needs no introduction to Warsaw audiences. Between 2008 and 2012, he served as Music Director of Sinfonia Varsovia. This French conductor of Polish descent has long enjoyed an international reputation and is universally regarded as one of the leading exponents of historically informed performance. He is especially admired for his brilliant interpretations of opera and the symphonic repertoire, both of which will feature in his programme with the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart composed the Italian opera seria La clemenza di Tito (The Clemency of Titus) towards the end of his all too brief life, after completing the opera buffa Così fan tutte and almost simultaneously with the German Singspiel Die Zauberflöte. The overture to La clemenza di Tito, with its compelling inner drama, foreshadows the conflicts and dilemmas of power that lie at the heart of the opera’s libretto.

Joseph Haydn’s Symphony in D major, Hob. I:104, composed in 1795, was the last of his twelve ‘London’ symphonies and was written during the composer’s stay in England. Its premiere at the King’s Theatre was a resounding success. The audience responded with particular enthusiasm to the finale, whose unmistakable allusions to folk music were associated with Croatian folklore.

It is said that critical remarks made by a fellow conductor and friend prompted Anton Bruckner to deliberately exclude his Symphony in D minor, written in 1869, from the official catalogue of his works. As a result, it came to be known as ‘Annulierte’ (‘Cancelled’) and ‘Die Nullte’ (“No. 0”). When the work was finally premiered in 1924, it proved to be a masterpiece in no way inferior to Bruckner’s other, ‘numbered’ symphonies. At the same time, the story of this symphony serves as a reminder of a familiar truth: every genius risks having their wings clipped by envious mediocrities.

 

Grzegorz Zieziula

Mark Minkowski needs no introduction to Warsaw audiences. Between 2008 and 2012, he served as Music Director of Sinfonia Varsovia. This French conductor of Polish descent has long enjoyed an international reputation and is universally regarded as one of the leading exponents of historically informed performance. He is especially admired for his brilliant interpretations of opera and the symphonic repertoire, both of which will feature in his programme with the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart composed the Italian opera seria La clemenza di Tito (The Clemency of Titus) towards the end of his all too brief life, after completing the opera buffa Così fan tutte and almost simultaneously with the German Singspiel Die Zauberflöte. The overture to La clemenza di Tito, with its compelling inner drama, foreshadows the conflicts and dilemmas of power that lie at the heart of the opera’s libretto.

Joseph Haydn’s Symphony in D major, Hob. I:104, composed in 1795, was the last of his twelve ‘London’ symphonies and was written during the composer’s stay in England. Its premiere at the King’s Theatre was a resounding success. The audience responded with particular enthusiasm to the finale, whose unmistakable allusions to folk music were associated with Croatian folklore.

It is said that critical remarks made by a fellow conductor and friend prompted Anton Bruckner to deliberately exclude his Symphony in D minor, written in 1869, from the official catalogue of his works. As a result, it came to be known as ‘Annulierte’ (‘Cancelled’) and ‘Die Nullte’ (“No. 0”). When the work was finally premiered in 1924, it proved to be a masterpiece in no way inferior to Bruckner’s other, ‘numbered’ symphonies. At the same time, the story of this symphony serves as a reminder of a familiar truth: every genius risks having their wings clipped by envious mediocrities.

 

Grzegorz Zieziula

Fraud, love affairs and murder – surprisingly enough, these do not summarise the libretto of Alessandro Stradella’s oratorio San Giovanni Battista, but they do perfectly encapsulate the composer's turbulent life and the growing legend that surrounded him as a seducer of noblemen's daughters, a swindler and a rogue. Already in the early eighteenth century, stories circulated that the assassins sent to kill Stradella had been so moved by the beauty of his music that they abandoned their murderous mission at the last moment. Although his life was not, in fact, spared, the sensational tale of Stradella only continued to fire the imagination of later generations, inspiring Romantic operas and literary works. An equally merciless fate awaits the protagonist of his magnificent oratorio: according to the biblical story, the head of John the Baptist became the bloody reward for the sensual dance performed before Herod Antipas by his stepdaughter Salome.

This harrowing story has exerted a powerful fascination on artists for centuries, and Stradella’s oratorio is regarded as one of its most compelling musical incarnations. The work was commissioned by a Florentine confraternity based in Rome and was first performed as part of a lavish cycle of fourteen oratorios presented during the opening months of 1675.

At this concert, the title role will be sung by Jakub Józef Orliński. He will be joined by the outstanding ensemble Il Pomo d'Oro, returning to the Warsaw Philharmonic after the success of last season’s performance of George Frideric Handel's Giulio Cesare in Egitto. Once again, the ensemble will be led by the distinguished early music specialist Francesco Corti.

 

Bartłomiej Gembicki

Can imagination be kept inside a little box? Or does it only take lifting the lid a little for extraordinary stories, colourful images and moving sounds to come pouring out? At this family concert at the Philharmonic, young listeners will discover just how powerful and boundless a child’s imagination can be. Music will intertwine with storytelling, while a touch of theatrical magic will lend the occasion a special sparkle. Together, we’ll open the door to a world full of surprises, where every sound can become the beginning of a new and extraordinary adventure.

Can imagination be kept inside a little box? Or does it only take lifting the lid a little for extraordinary stories, colourful images and moving sounds to come pouring out? At this family concert at the Philharmonic, young listeners will discover just how powerful and boundless a child’s imagination can be. Music will intertwine with storytelling, while a touch of theatrical magic will lend the occasion a special sparkle. Together, we’ll open the door to a world full of surprises, where every sound can become the beginning of a new and extraordinary adventure.

the programme will include songs by:

Alban Berg
Erich Wolfgang Korngold
Felix Mendessohn-Bartholdy
Edvard Grieg
Claude Debussy

 

The operatic singer Diana Damrau has appeared on many of the world’s leading stages, including the Opernhaus Zürich, Staatsoper Wien, Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich, La Scala in Milan, the Metropolitan Opera in New York, the Royal Opera House in London and the Opéra national de Paris. She has won particular acclaim for her interpretations of Pamina and the Queen of the Night in Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte, Rosina in Gioachino Rossini’s Il barbiere di Siviglia, and Leïla in Georges Bizet’s Les pêcheurs de perles. The international press has been lavish in its praise. As the Italian music critic Elvio Giudici wrote in 2015: ‘Her magnificent virtuosity [...] – every sung passage, every note, every trill, every messa di voce grows and rises towards an expressive chiaroscuro that reaches deep into the soul, constantly poised between joy and melancholy’.

The artist is equally highly regarded as a recital performer. Her programmes of Romantic Lieder enjoy great popularity and attract large audiences. At this song recital at the Warsaw Philharmonic, she will be joined by Helmut Deutsch, an experienced collaborative pianist with whom she has already recorded three albums: in 2006, a programme of works by Clara and Robert Schumann, Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, Fryderyk Chopin and Ferenc Liszt; in 2011, an album of Liszt songs; and in 2018, Hugon Wolf’s Italienisches Liederbuch. Their outstanding artistic partnership will fill this magical, atmospheric evening with the powerful emotions inspired by the timeless beauty of the human voice.

 

Jan Lech

W każdym sezonie, w jednym z naszych programów poezja i muzyka spotykają się w krainie wyobraźni, budząc w słuchaczach twórczą ciekawość. Zapraszamy do pudełka pełnego dźwięków, słów i obrazów! Głos aktora oraz brzmienie skrzypiec i fortepianu poprowadzą nas w świat fantazji, gdzie poezja ożywa, a muzyka opowiada historie. To przygoda, podczas której słuchamy, czujemy i odkrywamy. Program dla starszych melomanów prezentuje okres Młodej Polski – epoki dialogu poezji i muzyki. Aktorskie interpretacje tekstów w połączeniu z brzmieniem instrumentów stworzą sugestywną opowieść o emocjach, symbolach i poszukiwaniu sensu w sztuce.

Na koncerty z cyklu Spotkania z Muzyką w Filharmonii Narodowej zapraszamy wyłącznie zorganizowane grupy przedszkolne (od 5 roku życia) oraz ze szkół podstawowych.

O możliwości rezerwacji biletów na koncert 31 maja 2027 poinformujemy w późniejszym terminie.

W każdym sezonie, w jednym z naszych programów poezja i muzyka spotykają się w krainie wyobraźni, budząc w słuchaczach twórczą ciekawość. Zapraszamy do pudełka pełnego dźwięków, słów i obrazów! Głos aktora oraz brzmienie skrzypiec i fortepianu poprowadzą nas w świat fantazji, gdzie poezja ożywa, a muzyka opowiada historie. To przygoda, podczas której słuchamy, czujemy i odkrywamy. Program dla starszych melomanów prezentuje okres Młodej Polski – epoki dialogu poezji i muzyki. Aktorskie interpretacje tekstów w połączeniu z brzmieniem instrumentów stworzą sugestywną opowieść o emocjach, symbolach i poszukiwaniu sensu w sztuce.

Na koncerty z cyklu Spotkania z Muzyką w Filharmonii Narodowej zapraszamy wyłącznie zorganizowane grupy przedszkolne (od 5 roku życia) oraz ze szkół podstawowych.

O możliwości rezerwacji biletów na koncert 31 maja 2027 poinformujemy w późniejszym terminie.

Among the leading conductors of our time, Sir Simon Rattle holds a unique place. His achievements defy brief summary: from 1980 to 1998, he was Music Director of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, from 2002 to 2018, he was Chief Conductor of the Berliner Philharmoniker, and from 2017 to 2023, he held the post of Music Director of the London Symphony Orchestra.

In Warsaw, he will lead the renowned Mahler Chamber Orchestra, an international ensemble founded in 1997 at the initiative of Claudio Abbado and comprising outstanding musicians from more than 25 countries. The orchestra has no permanent home and collaborates with leading conductors and soloists worldwide. The eponymous L'Eroe (‘Hero’) of Ludwig van Beethoven's Third Symphony is not a particular individual but an idea. The music embodies the universal ideals of goodness and self-sacrifice, which also recur in the ballet The Creatures of Prometheus (whose theme is quoted in the finale of the ‘Eroica’), the opera Fidelio, and the Ninth Symphony. The work abounds in innovations, but what astonished Beethoven's contemporaries most was the sheer monumentality of its conception and the power of its musical expression: grandeur, passion and dramatic contrasts.

The serenade, a genre forgotten during much of the nineteenth century, was revived above all by the two works composed by the young Johannes Brahms, which inspired Antonín Dvořák. His Serenade for Strings, Op. 22, is a five-movement work sparkling with joy and wit, its elegant classicising form infused with Romantic expression. The slightly later Serenade in E minor, Op. 44, is scored for colourful winds with string fondamento. Its opening, pompous march could almost be taken for a funeral march, but at the faster tempo prescribed here it takes on a gently grotesque character, while the playful mood emerges in the movements that follow, drawing on the rhythms of Czech dances.

Sir Simon Rattle’s programme reflects the repertoire closest to his heart, from the Viennese Classics to Romanticism, bringing together works he has long performed and recorded, each bearing his distinctive personal stamp.

 

Piotr Maculewicz

The final concert of the 2026/2027 season celebrates nature. Pēteris Vasks’ Plainscapes for mixed choir, violin and cello is an attempt to recreate in music the lowlands of his native Latvia. This gentle, meditative work was premiered on 28 March 2002 at Vienna’s Minoritenkirche. It was conducted by the Latvian choral director Māris Sirmais, performed by the Kamēr youth choir from… Riga, with Gidon Kremer (violin) and Marta Sudraba (cello) as the instrumental soloists. Given the outstanding artistry of the Warsaw Philharmonic Choir, one may look forward to a deeply moving performance.

Jan Lech
 

Karol Szymanowski was particularly fond of writing for the violin, no doubt influenced by his friendship with the outstanding virtuoso Paweł Kochański, but perhaps above all by his extraordinary sensitivity to sound, which enabled him to shape the voice of the violin into both fleeting Oriental arabesques and the rugged phrases of Podhale folk music. The Violin Concerto No. 2, written in 1933 at Kochański’s instigation, reflects the folkloric fascinations of the Master of Atma – the name by which Szymanowski, after his Zakopane villa, is often affectionately known in Poland. Here, however, the Podhale colouring is less exuberantly expressive, more restrained, steeped in lyricism and, at times, quiet reflection.

Commissioned by Sergei Diaghilev for his Ballets Russes, The Firebird was Igor Stravinsky’s first major success. It premiered in 1910 at the Théâtre National de l’Opéra in Paris. Of the three concert suites the composer later prepared, the 1919 version is the best known. Krzysztof Urbański, Artistic Director of the Warsaw Philharmonic, has chosen instead the 1945 suite, assembled by Stravinsky in the United States. It is a dazzling display of orchestral colour, shifting moods and superbly transformed folk motifs, culminating in a celebration of nature, goodness and light.

 

Małgorzata Gąsiorowska (ed.)

The final concert of the 2026/2027 season celebrates nature. Pēteris Vasks’ Plainscapes for mixed choir, violin and cello is an attempt to recreate in music the lowlands of his native Latvia. This gentle, meditative work was premiered on 28 March 2002 at Vienna’s Minoritenkirche. It was conducted by the Latvian choral director Māris Sirmais, performed by the Kamēr youth choir from… Riga, with Gidon Kremer (violin) and Marta Sudraba (cello) as the instrumental soloists. Given the outstanding artistry of the Warsaw Philharmonic Choir, one may look forward to a deeply moving performance.

Jan Lech
 

Karol Szymanowski was particularly fond of writing for the violin, no doubt influenced by his friendship with the outstanding virtuoso Paweł Kochański, but perhaps above all by his extraordinary sensitivity to sound, which enabled him to shape the voice of the violin into both fleeting Oriental arabesques and the rugged phrases of Podhale folk music. The Violin Concerto No. 2, written in 1933 at Kochański’s instigation, reflects the folkloric fascinations of the Master of Atma – the name by which Szymanowski, after his Zakopane villa, is often affectionately known in Poland. Here, however, the Podhale colouring is less exuberantly expressive, more restrained, steeped in lyricism and, at times, quiet reflection.

Commissioned by Sergei Diaghilev for his Ballets Russes, The Firebird was Igor Stravinsky’s first major success. It premiered in 1910 at the Théâtre National de l’Opéra in Paris. Of the three concert suites the composer later prepared, the 1919 version is the best known. Krzysztof Urbański, Artistic Director of the Warsaw Philharmonic, has chosen instead the 1945 suite, assembled by Stravinsky in the United States. It is a dazzling display of orchestral colour, shifting moods and superbly transformed folk motifs, culminating in a celebration of nature, goodness and light.

 

Małgorzata Gąsiorowska (ed.)

Although Arcadi Volodos began playing the piano in early childhood, it was not until the age of sixteen that he decided to devote himself seriously to this instrument. The slow, steady development of his career – far removed from the pressures of competition – allowed him to achieve a dazzling level of technical mastery. In terms of technique, bravura and brilliance, he is often compared to Vladimir Horowitz. He performs the most demanding works in the piano repertoire with ease and, in the spirit of nineteenth-century salon composers, creates his own arrangements, pushing the boundaries of what seems technically possible. Volodos is a rare visitor to the recording studio, making each new album one of the year’s most significant recording events. Yet these recordings show that there is more to his artistry than extraordinary technical accomplishment. His most recent recordings of music by Johannes Brahms and Franz Schubert also reveal his lyrical side, earning him critical acclaim for his sense of tempo and phrasing, and for an extraordinary range of piano dynamics, likened to whispers and velvet.

 

Bartłomiej Gembicki

Concerts given by graduates of the Chopin University of Music at the Warsaw Philharmonic are part of an enduring tradition at our institution, which each year gives students of various departments the chance to display their skills to a wide audience and appear on a stage where world-class musicians not infrequently perform. The young musicians distinguished by their outstanding achievements include instrumentalists, vocalists and conductors. They are a focal point of interest not just among their teachers, fellow students and families, but also unerringly among music lovers, who have a unique opportunity to hear and discover new talents on the threshold of their career.

 

Dorota Żórawska-Dobrowolska

Their experience of professional musical education begins at different stages in their lives. Often, initial lessons on an instrument precede attending an ‘ordinary’ school. While their friends have free time, they have to spend several hours a day learning increasingly difficult repertoire. Many of their peers give up musical practice for the period of their lengthy training in playing or singing (some of them even after their studies), often lasting more than a decade. Finally, for many of them, graduating from an institution of higher musical education is merely a stage on a longer journey to improve the skills they have gained. The concerts given each year at the Warsaw Philharmonic by graduates of the Chopin University of Music are an exceptional event both for the musicians and for the listeners. For the former, it is an ideal opportunity to appear on a stage that has played host to world-class artists; for the latter, it is a chance to discover talented young musicians, often before the world hears about them.

 

Bartłomiej Gembicki