CONCERT AND CULINARY EXPERIENCE/Tireless observers. Menzel, Schubert and Janáček

6 p.m.
concert and dining experience

An event accompanying the first monographic exhibition in Poland devoted to the work of Adolph Menzel ([Adolph Menzel (1815—1905). The Tireless Observer] (https://www.mnw.art.pl/wystawy/adolph-menzel-18151905-niestrudzony-obserwator,277.html)) — one of the most outstanding German artists of the 19th century. During the evening we will take a closer look at the times and art from the artist's environment. The event aims to build Polish-German dialogue through music, visual arts and cuisine.

Deadline: Saturday, October 17, 2026, 6:00 p.m.
Duration: approx. 180 min.
Rules of participation: [tickets at the price of PLN 90, available online] (https://bilety.mnw.art.pl/termin.html?y=2026&m=10&back=1&idl=1&idw=1030&idg=17)i at the box office, entitling to participation in the concert and dinner/number of seats limited

MUSIC

Program of the concert:

* Leos Janacek (1854—1928)
In the fog (In the mists)
I. Andante
II. A lot of adage
III. Andantino
IV. Presto

* Franz Schubert (1797—1828)
Three Piano Pieces, D 946
I. Allegro assai — E minor
II. Allegretto — E flat major
III. Allegro — C major

Janáček's music is, as Kundera wrote, “one of the historical possibilities of a way out of Romanticism.” Janáček, in the mature period of his work, focused on the realistic portrayal of the mental states of ordinary people. The sight of a composer recording the melodies of conversations in the market, the street bustle or old Moravian songs did not surprise anyone in Brno. He regarded human speech as a representation of mental states. We will not find long romantic phrases in him — rather snippets of them, short motifs, seemingly chaotic rhythms, musical gestures reminiscent of fragments of thoughts.

The series In the Mists shows Janáček's musical language in full splendor. The title “fogs” do not describe a natural phenomenon here — the composer treats them as a metaphor for human fate. In the work, he records changes, as he himself said, of mental states: anxiety, doubt, resignation, euphoria, as well as fragments of soothing memories of times long gone. “Truth leads. Beauty is on her belt,” the artist used to say.

Drei Klavierstücke D 946 are among Schubert's last piano works and were composed in the last year of his life. These are two seemingly opposite poles: in Schubert's breadth of phrase, sonority and rooted in tradition; in Janáček — abbreviation, fragment and radical modernity. And yet the two meet in a similar place: where music ceases to be a mere story and becomes a testimony to the human condition.

They are also united by a question that Beethoven had raised with all his might in music — the question of fate. For Schubert it takes on special significance precisely in the last months of his life, when both Drei Klavierstücke and his greatest late masterpieces are being created. For Janáček, this question does not take the form of romantic pathos — it appears rather in fragments, the “theme of the wild man”, understatements and sudden ruptures of the musical narrative. That is why I treat The Fog and Drei Klavierstücke not as a contrast for the sake of contrast, but as a meeting of two completely different languages talking about the same thing: about man versus himself, the world and fate.

Mateusz Zubik

Mateusz Zubik — pianist, curator and official YAMAHA Artist, appreciated for his musical intelligence, clarity of form and conscious shaping of sound. He has given concerts at Carnegie Hall, Vienna, London, Paris and Cologne. Doctor of Arts summa cum laude, lecturer at the Academy of Music in Cracow. Creator and director of SILENCE Music Festival, author of concepts combining classical music, performance, new technologies and the social dimension of art. He collaborates with esteemed artists and orchestras.

KITCHEN

Inspired by the artist's work, we invite you on a journey through the flavors of 1960s-19th century Berlin, the city where Adolph Menzel spent most of his life. We will examine how the rich, diverse culinary tradition could have tasted in the conditions of the nascent bistro culture, when the dishes considered classic today were created. The collision of the elements of the manor kitchen with the simplicity and inadequacies of the dynamically developing urban fabric gave birth to a new quality witnessed by Adolph Menzel. Let's taste the hustle and bustle of the street, the chaos and the extremes of the era.

Maciej Nowicki — for years he was a chef at the Museum of the Palace of King John III in Wilanów, where he co-created the educational and research program “Garden-Kitchen-Table” dedicated to Polish cuisine. He gained professional experience in the UK and France. In the kitchen, he combines his historical education with culinary art, dedicating himself to reconstruction work and Polish recipes dating from the 16th to the 20th century. He is a lover and popularizer of ancient varieties of vegetables, fruits and wild edible plants. In addition to reconstruction theory, he deals with sensory sciences and areas of meaning in culinary traditions. Co-winner of the prestigious Europa Nostra Award 2019, awarded the title of Traditional Chef 2019 Gault&Millau Polska. It promotes traditional Polish cuisine, not only in Poland, but also in the world, including in France, the USA, the United Arab Emirates, Japan, Korea, China and Jordan. Together with Prof. Jarosław Dumanowski, he hosts the program “History of Polish Cuisine” on Biełsat TV.

Illustration: Adolph Menzel, Letter on the occasion of the return of soldiers from the front 22 September 1866, 1866, pen lithograph, Chinese paper, National Museum in Warsaw