Symphonic Concert

Performers:
Krakow Philharmonic Orchestra
Sascha Goetzel - conductor
Ester Pavlů - mezzosopran

Repertoire:
Gustav Mahler - Blumine from Symphony No. 1 in D major, Titan
- Five songs to lyrics by Friedrich Rückert
***
Jean Sibelius - Symphony No. 7 in C major, Op.105
- Finland Op. 26
4.30 p.m., Sala Złota — Discussion Music Club
Special guest — Sascha Goetzel

The autumn of 1907 was extremely warm in Helsinki. At the end of October, G. Mahler came from St. Petersburg to Helsinki to conduct a concert of the orchestra of R. Kajanus and to meet with J. Sibelius, which went down in the history of music as one of the most famous polemics concerning the essence of the symphony. Many years earlier, in 1884, Mahler created the serenade-like composition Blumine, originally part of Symphony No. 1. This part was removed after the first three performances and omitted in the first edition; today it is usually performed as a standalone piece.

Between 1901 and 1904, Mahler turned to the lyrics of F. Rückert, composing a collection of five Kindertotenlieder for voice and orchestra. The poems were created after the untimely death of the poet's sons, and the music reflects the tangle of emotions associated with death. The premiere of a specific whole cycle took place in 1905 in Vienna. The concept of continuous, fluid composition also guided Sibelius in his work on the Seventh Symphony. The decision to abandon the multi-part form was probably made a dozen months before the premiere. The work was performed in 1924 in Stockholm as a “symphonic fantasy”, but a later publication stated that it was the seventh (and as it turned out - the last) symphony of the artist.

In the work of Sibelius we find his deep attachment to his homeland. The symphonic poem Finland, written in 1899 and revised in 1900, accompanied the presentation of the painting with scenes from the history of Finland and constituted a secret protest against the growing censorship by the Russian Empire. The premiere of the work took place in Helsinki under the direction of R. Kajanus, whose orchestra seven years later in the capital of Finland was conducted by Mahler, who arrived at the time directly from the capital of tsarist Russia.

Dorota Staszkiewicz

Sascha GOETZEL

From the moment Sascha Goetzel took the stage [...] we knew we were in for a concert feast. He is one of those magical conductors who exudes charisma, connects with every member of the orchestra, drawing the audience into a journey together.

Alice Newton, BBC Proms Behind the Scenes

With his charisma and dynamic and compelling musical personality, Sascha Goetzel has established himself as a versatile conductor — an extraordinary orchestra builder, creative cultural manager, educator and advocate for musicians and artists.

Since September 2022, he has been the Music Director of the Orchestre National des Pays de la Loire. In addition, from the 2024/2025 season, he was appointed chief guest conductor of the Timisoara Philharmonic in Romania and the first conductor of the Krakow Philharmonic. During his eleven-year tenure as chief conductor and artistic director of the Borusan Philharmonic Orchestra in Istanbul, he made a significant contribution to the development of the ensemble. Notable achievements include imaginative concert programmes, award-winning recordings by the phonograph industry and concerts that have won acclaim among listeners and critics, including tours at the Salzburg Festival, the BBC Proms, the Royal Concertgebouw, at the Vienna Musikverein, the Théâtre des Champs Elysées and the Hong Kong Arts Festival.

In recent years, Goetzel has performed many times with world-class orchestras such as the NHK Symphony Orchestra, Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Dresdner Philharmonie, Monte-Carlo Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestre National de France, Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra, Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra, Münchner Symphony Orchestra As well as the Tonkünstler Orchestra, Orchestre National de Bordeaux Aquitaine and ORF Radio-Symphonieorchester Wien — collaborating with outstanding soloists, including Daniil Trifonov, Rudolf Buchbinder, Joyce Di Dona¬to, Yuja Wang, Nemanja Radulovich, Maxim Vengerov, Julian Rachlin, Fatma Said, Renee Fleming, Anna Netrebko, Bryan Terfel, Brandford Marsalis, Murray Perahia, and many others. In 2014, he made his debut at the Vienna State Opera, conducting W.A. Mozart's Marriage of Figaro. This premiere was received with great enthusiasm, which resulted in six subsequent productions — J. Strauss's Revenge of the Bat, G. Puccini's Gypsy, W.A. Mozart's Don Giovanni, G. Verdi's Rigoletto, W.A. Mozart's The Magic Flute and R. Strauss's The Knight of the Silver Rose. Goetzel has also performed at the Mariinsky Theatre, Zurich Opera, Tokyo Metropolitan Opera, Tokyo Nikikai Opera Company at Bunka Kaikan in Tokyo, Opéra de Nantes Angers, Opera de Rennes, Wiener Volksoper and Opéra de Montpellier.

In the 2023/2024 season he was successful in productions of Beatrice and Benedict H. Berlioz in Angers, Nantes and Rennes, as well as in Orpheus and Eurydice Ch. Gluck from Reiseopera in the Netherlands.

In the 2024/2025 season he conducted the Flying Dutchman R. Wagner in Trondheim and Kristiansand and conducted numerous symphony orchestras, including the Tonkuenstler Orchestra, Prague Symphony Orchestra, Belgrade Philharmonic, Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra, Accademia Teatro La Scala Orchestra, National Orchestra The Romanian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Istanbul State Symphony Orchestra and the Orquesta de les Illes Balears.

Sascha Goetzel has a number of award-winning albums on Deutsche Grammophon, WARNER, Onyx and Naïve labels with works by Hindemith, Bartók, Schulhoff, Berlioz, Turnage, Tchaikovsky, Bizet, Rimsky-Korsakov and Respighi.

A staunch advocate of the arts, also involved in music education, Sascha Goetzel is the founder of the ORPHEUS-WIEN foundation for the digital transformation of art, co-director and co-founder of Opera by the Fjord Academy and Festival, an innovative academy and festival for aspiring singers and instrumentalists in cooperation with Bergen National Opera. He is also co-founder and CCO of the Vienna Art Network, artistic director of Music for Peace (El Sistema-Turkey) and conducting mentor at Dirigentloftet, a Norwegian music education program focused on the development of young conductors.

photo: Özge Balkan

Ester PAVLŮ — one of the most promising mezzo-soprano of the young generation, winning the recognition of the audience and critics both in Poland and abroad.

She studied at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague under the guidance of Helena Kaupova. She participated in master classes led by Aprile Millo, Peter Dvorský, Eva Randova, Božidar Nikolov, Gabriela Beňačkova and José Cura, and in recent years she has honed her skills with Vladimir Chmelo.

In the current artistic season, she twice portrayed Amneris in G. Verdi's Aida, making her debut in this role at the National Theatre in Brno and at the Royal Opera in Stockholm. After returning from Sweden, she performed at a gala at Prague's Rudolfinum alongside Plácido Domingo. She will also sing in Freiburg, Switzerland, the part of The Foreign Princess in A. Dvořák's opera Rusałek and at the National Theatre in Prague the title role of Carmen in G. Bizet's opera, and in March 2026 as Kundry in a new production of Wagner's Parsifal. In addition to the opera repertoire, he will also perform in G. Verdi's Requiem with the Podkarpackie Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by David Giménez Carreras and with the Prague Symphony Orchestra conducted by Tomáš Brauner, he will also perform R. Wagner's Wesendonck Lieder with the Košice State Symphony Orchestra and Peter Altrichter, performs in King Oedipus I Stravinsky with the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Petr Popelka and at the B. Smetana Festival in Litomyšl.

Her notable operatic achievements in recent seasons include roles such as Vlasta (Šárka L. Janáčka), Santuzza (Cavalleria rusticana by P. Mascani) and Fenena (Nabucco G. Verdi) in the National Theatre in Prague and the State Opera in Prague, Carmen (Carmen G. Bizeta) in the Slovak National Theatre, Queen of Ice (Schwanda) the Bagpiper by J. Weinberger) at Theater an der Wien and in Graz, Princesses of Ebola (Don Carlos G. Verdi), Carmen and Amneris at the Latvian National Opera in Riga, Amneris at the Lithuanian National Opera in Vilnius, Angelina (Cinderella by G. Rossini) at the Opera The National in Sofia, the Foreign Princess (Rusałka A. Dvořák) at the Slovak National Theatre in Bratislava and Santuza in Basel. In addition to the opera repertoire, Ester Pavlů also performs oratorical and vocal-instrumental works. With the Prague Symphony Orchestra she sang G. Mahler's 8th Symphony, H. Berlioz's Les nuit d'été, with the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra she presented a concert performance of Tristan and Isolde R. Wagner's drama and with the Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra G. Mahler's 3rd Symphony.

She has performed at many opera galas, including with José Cura in Hungary and with Plácido Domingo at the International Music Festival in Cesky Krumlov. In 2021, she toured the UK with the Prague Symphony Orchestra presenting G. Mahler's Symphony No. 3, and performed a recital with Slovak pianist Robert Pechanec at the Kennedy Center in Washington.

Her discography includes The Diary of the Lost L. Janáček (Zefka), J.B. Foerster's Love Songs, A. Dvořák's song series with British pianist Charles Spencer, and a recording of David Buckley's new opera Oracle with the BBC Concert Orchestra in London.

photo: Josef Rabara