Pulcinella

In the last days of January, music lovers will enjoy a cello festival — the recital of the Polish Cello Quartet. And it is a unique recital, because the artists will create a quintet with one of the most appreciated virtuosos of this instrument in the world, Raphael Wallfisch. The concert will feature compositions by Ernest Van Nieuwenhove, Max Bruch, Johannes Bosse and Igor Stravinsky.

Raphael Wallfisch, an English virtuoso with over seventy albums, is known for his collaborations with contemporary composers such as John Tavener and James MacMillan. The cellist will appear on stage not only during this event — the next day he will also perform with the NFM Wrocław Philharmonic. The Polish Cello Quartet will present one of the cello evergreens, this time in an elaboration for five such instruments. Kol Nidrei op. 47 by Max Bruch, as it is the work in question, is a Konzertstück, originally performed with orchestra, inspired by Jewish music, but stylistically not deviating from the language of mature romanticism. We will also hear a composition by Ernest Van Nieuwenhove, whom the world met in 1936. The author of the Suite for four cellos in his work willingly resorted to the techniques of impressionism. Finally, the celebration that is every premiere awaits us — on this day we will hear the premiere of the work of Johannes Bosse.

The suite from the famous Pulcinella will also sound in the arrangement. After the First World War, which Igor Stravinsky spent in neutral Switzerland, the director of the Russian Ballets Sergei Diaghilev approached him with a request to adapt the recently discovered music of Giovanni Battista Pergolesi for his ensemble. The artist approached this in a creative way and significantly modernized fragments of the work of the eighteenth century author — the resulting ballet was staged in Paris in 1920. The scenography for the performance was developed by Pablo Picasso himself, and the composition gave rise to one of the most important artistic directions in the music of the 20th century — neoclassicism.