Mozart — Requiem | Grygori — Canticum Genti | Voices of Freedom

Performers: Inna Fedorii — soprano

Nataliia Tepla — alto

Mykhailo Kushlyk — tenorea

Benedykt Szostok — baritone

Yaroslav Shemet — conductor

Jarosław Wolanin — choir preparation

Silesian Philharmonic Choir

Silesian Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra

Program: Wolfgang Amades Mozart — Requiem in D minor KV 626

Roman Grygori — Canticum Genti (premiere)

The Voices of Freedom concert will commemorate the 5th anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine and will be an artistic testament to the cooperation of Polish and Ukrainian artists and performers. The evening will be conducted by Yaroslav Shemet, and in addition to the Choir and Symphony Orchestra of the Silesian Philharmonic, soloists from Ukraine will perform: Inna Fedorii, Nataliia Tepla and Mykhailo Kushlyk.

The central point of the event will be the world premiere of Roman Gryfuel's oratorio Canticum Gentis to the text of Tadeusz Sławek — a work created jointly by artists from Ukraine and Poland. The composition for soloists, mixed choir and symphony orchestra was dedicated to the fate of children in the face of the most tragic man-made disasters — wars.

Canticum Gentis is the third part of a triptych devoted to the theme of war and its aftermath. The first link of the cycle was Eugeniusz Knapik's Canticum puerorum, the second part — Krzysztof Knittl's Canticum Profugorum. Commissioned by Emil Wąsacz, the triptych creates a multidimensional musical reflection on the experience of violence, loss and memory.

The second part of the evening will be filled with one of the most important works of sacred music — Requiem in D minor KV 626 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Shrouded in legend, the composer's last work for more than two centuries remains a universal symbol of mourning, spiritual anxiety and hope. Mozart worked on the composition in the last months of his life without having time to finish the score — the work was completed after his death by Franz Xaver Süssmayr.

The Requiem impresses with its extraordinary emotional strength and dramatic contrast between monumental choral parts and focused lyrical passages. A special place is occupied by the poignant parts of Lacrimosa, Confutatis or the monumental Dies irae, in which Mozart shows with extraordinary intensity the tension between fear, suffering and hope.

The Voices of Freedom concert will be an evening of music that carries memory and emotions — a meeting of artists, cultures and experiences, in which music becomes a language of solidarity, compassion and living history together.

CONCERT INFORMANT