Kilar — Mendelssohn | Sałajczyk | Pławner | Chamber Orchestra

Performers: Piotr Sałajczyk — piano

Piotr Pławner — violin/conductor

Silesian Chamber Orchestra

Program: Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy — Symphony No. 3 in E minor for string orchestra

Wojciech Kilar — Piano Concerto II

Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy — Double Concerto for violin, piano and orchestra

The meeting of two masters: the romantic elegance of Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy and the emotional, hypnotic imagination of Wojciech Kilar will complete the concert of the Silesian Chamber Orchestra. The evening will be hosted by the winner of the most prestigious violin competitions, including the ARD International Competition in Munich and the Henryk Wieniawski International Competition Piotr Pławner, who will also perform as a soloist, and will be partnered by the laureate of Fryderyk and Orpheus for outstanding performances of Polish music pianist Piotr Sałajczyk.

The concert will open with Symphony No. 3 in E minor for string orchestra by Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy — a piece composed by the composer at the age of only twelve. Already in this youthful work one can hear an extraordinary musical maturity, lightness of conducting melodies and the elegance of form characteristic of Mendelssohn. The symphony impresses with its energy, clarity of texture and melodic freshness, foreshadowing the future style of the creator of the Italian Symphony and the violin concerto in E minor.

Wojciech Kilar's 2nd Piano Concerto is one of the composer's most moving and personal works. Composed fourteen years after the First Piano Concerto, the piece was written for piano, string orchestra and percussion, which gives it a unique, raw and focused sound. The composition opens with a slow, meditative introduction imitating the beating of bells and introducing an almost funerary mood. The reflective character also returns in part three, contrasting with the exuberant, dynamic parts two and four.

In the concert, Kilar's individual musical language is clearly heard — saving resources, repetitiveness of motifs and long, hypnotic harmonic planes building a characteristic sense of stopped time.

The finale will feature Mendelssohn's Double Concerto for violin, piano and orchestra — a work remarkable both for its history and for its cast. The composer wrote them as a teenager for himself and his sister Fanny, with whom he often made music together. The piece impresses with its youthful energy, brilliant dialogues between violin and piano and graceful melodiousness. The solo parts will be performed by Piotr Pławner and Piotr Sałajczyk, creating a musical dialogue full of virtuosity and romantic brilliance.

CONCERT INFORMANT

Concert dedicated to the 20th edition of the Silesian Guitar Autumn