SYMPHONIC CONCERT

CONCERT HALL OF THE PODKARPACKIE PHILHARMONIC

SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA OF THE PODKARPACKIE PHILHARMONIC

CHOIR WIENER GESANGVREREREIN (Vienna)

EVAN — ALEXIS CHRIST — conductor

EWA TRACZ — soprano

EWA BIEGAS — mezzo-soprano

WIKTORIA WOJDYŁA — alto

MICHAŁ RYGUŁA — tenor

BENEDYKT SOSTOK — baritone

In the program:

K. Kurpiński — Overture to the opera Jadwiga, Queen of Poland

F. Schubert — Eighth Symphony in B minor Unfinished D 759

C. Saint Saëns — Oratory for Christmas, Op. 12

Karol Kurpiński (1785—1857) was one of the most important Polish composers of the turn of classicism and romanticism. His output includes mainly operas, as well as symphonic, chamber and religious works, as well as numerous songs. At the heart of his reflection on music was the conviction that its essence is to express and repaint feelings, passions and moods. At the same time, Kurpiński belonged to the group of artists who successfully combined classical compositional means with elements of Polish national music and folklore. One of the works representing this current of his work is the opera Jadwiga, Queen of Poland (1814), whose overture will be played during today's concert.

Although Franz Schubert's Eighth Symphony in B minor (1797—1828), called “Unfinished”, was left in only two parts, according to many musicologists it constitutes a closed and artistically perfect whole. Both links are masterpieces, and despite their contrasting nature, they form an extremely coherent composition.

Schubert once asked, “Who else can do anything after Beethoven?” Meanwhile, the first part of “Unfinished”, thanks to its extraordinary dramatic tension, is sometimes juxtaposed with the first part of Beethoven's famous Symphony of Fate. In this view, Schubert appears as one of the most important heirs of the great classic, adopting and developing Beethoven's own language of dramatic expression. The second part, on the other hand, brings a completely different mood — it envelops the listener with the warmth and beauty of the sound, delighting at the same time with the simplicity and naturalness of the melody.

How correctly Johannes Brahms put it, who was supposed to say about the Eighth Symphony: “If all the works were as finished as this, believe me, we would live in a true musical paradise.”

Camille Saint-Saëns (1835—1921) in 1857 assumed the honorary position of organist at the Church of La Madeleine in Paris. A year later he composed the Oratory for Christmas, with the intention of performing it during the Shepherdess in this very temple. The stylistics of the work deviates from the tradition of Baroque oratory, although the work also draws from the texts of the Old and New Testaments. Saint-Saëns' oratory is closer to French vocal and instrumental works created at the beginning of the 19th century, especially the composition of Jean-François Le Sueur (1760-1837).

Characteristic instrumentation, reminiscent of chamber music, combined with lyrical solo parts and sparingly treated choral part, creates an atmosphere full of serenity and pastoral gentleness. All these elements make up the unique character of the work, which over time has become one of Saint-Saëns' most performed works.

EVAN — ALEXIS CHRIST was born in Los Angeles to a family of Greek musicians and raised in Las Vegas. He started playing oboe and piano very early. At Harvard University, he studied mathematics and composition and conducting at the Leipzig Conservatory of Music.

Since 2020, he has performed regularly with the Bulgarian National Opera from Sofia, where, in addition to numerous repertory works, he conducted Bulgarian premieres of Elektra and Ariadne on Richard Strauss's Naxos and premieres of all parts of the Nibelung Ring, as well as Richard Wagner's Lohngrin. In October 2023, he made his first appearance in Asia, conducting Elektra at the Opera in Daegu, South Korea, after which he received a renewed invitation to participate in the 2024 staging of The Bachelor of the Silver Rose. In the 2023/2024 season, he was the principal conductor of the Sarajevo Symphony Orchestra during the jubilee 100th season. During it, along with other well-known guest artists such as Riccardo Muti or Zubin Mehta, he conducted several performances. Since 2022, he has regularly conducted guest orchestras with the German Nürnberger Symphoniker, Neue Philharmonie-Westfalen, Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie, as well as the Portuguese Orquestra Clássica da Madeira.

He frequently collaborates with German orchestras and opera houses, including Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, HR-Sinfonieorchester, NDR Radiophilharmonie, SWR Symphonieorchester, MDR Sinfonie-Orchester, WDR-Funkhausorchester, Bremer Philharmoniker, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Komische Oper Berlin, Staatstheater Hannover, Theater Bonn, Staatstheater Hannover, Theater Bonn, Staatstheater Hannover, Staatstheater Theater Wiesbaden, Aalto-Theater Essen and Nationaltheater Mannheim. Internationally, as part of his re-engagements, he has collaborated with the Zagreb Symphony Orchestra, the Israeli Symphony Orchestra with Rishon LeZion, the Slovenian Radio and Television Symphony Orchestra, the Sinfonieorchester St. Gallen and the Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg. In the summer of 2011, he made his debut at the Salzburg Festival, conducting the Klangforum Wien orchestra during the insertion of Salvatore Sciarrino's opera Macbeth.

Throughout the world, Evan-Alexis Christ has become known for his innovative concert programs, which include all of Mahler's and Beethoven's symphonies, as well as Richard Wagner's critically acclaimed entire Ring of Nibelung. He has conducted more than 65 world premieres and numerous concerts of film music, midnight concerts, educational concerts, flash mob concerts and concerts combining different genres of music. In addition, he directed more than 60 stage productions, including all Mozart operas and many concerts by German, Italian and French composers.

From 2008 to 2019, Evan-Alexis Christ was music director of the Brandenburg State Opera in Cottbus, holding this position as one of the youngest music directors in Germany. Under his direction, the orchestra made numerous recordings and for the first time in its 100-year history went on an international tour. In 2011, the orchestra won the award of the publishers (Boosey & Hawkes, Peters, Breitkopf and others) for the best concert program of all German orchestras. In 2010, the residents of Cottbus chose Christo as “Cottbus Man of the Year”. The number of subscription holders increased during this time from 70 to 95% of the available seats. From 2009 to 2018, all concerts for subscription holders were world premieres, and the orchestra regularly collaborated with contemporary music ensembles Court-Circuit Paris and Ensemble Mosaik Berlin. The high quality of the orchestra's artistic work has been confirmed by numerous generous grants (the Ernst von Siemens Foundation, the Berlin Academy of Arts, the “Excellent Orchestra Landscape” program of the German National Foundation and Impuls Neue Musik).

After a brief engagement (in 2003) as a voice coach at the Opera in Portland (USA), from 2003 to 2005 Christ was the first bandmaster and deputy musical director of the Würzburg Opera. From 2005 to 2008 he was the first choirmaster of the Wuppertal Opera.