Warsaw Symphony and Tianyao Lyu

Symphonic Concert

Performers:

Orkiestra Sinfonia Varsovia

Marta Kluczyńska — conductor

Tianyao Lyu — piano

Janusz Ciepliński — a word about music

Program:

Fryderyk Chopin — Piano Concerto in E minor Op. 11

Robert Schumann — Symphony No. 4 in D minor, Op. 120

Tianyao Liu, less than 16 years old pianist of Chinese origin, was for many music lovers and music critics the revelation of the last Fryderyk Chopin International Piano Competition in Warsaw. Her play captivated the audience with its energy with its youthfulness, clear and bright sound, and most of all, a huge sensitivity to the music of the piano poet. Anna Chęćka, editor of Ruchu Muzycznego, summed up the comments about the artist's age as follows:

I think (...) that the competition interpretations of Lyu and the young Zimerman have a lot in common. Like many, although in other aspects, it connects her with Martha Argerich. Even if it is youth, then she is not the embodiment of the Instagram aesthetic and in some sense, she has no age. In today's interpretations of Zimerman it is still possible to find this original, pure musicality. Therefore, the label “aesthetics cute” strongly irritates me in the case of Lyu, and I even think that in some way offends the pianist. *

The pianist will be accompanied by the Sinfonia Varsovia Orchestra, a fantastic and dynamically developing ensemble. This Friday evening will surely be remembered by Olsztyn music lovers for a long time — not only because of the performers, but also because of the repertoire. It contains two intriguing works...

Much has already been written about Fryderyk Chopin's Piano Concerto in E minor Op. 11 — if only because it is one of the few pieces that our national piano poet has involved in a symphony orchestra. Although no one dares to criticize a solo part, so there have been a few daredevils in the history of music who used the second part of the composition — the part of the orchestra. There were even attempts to reorchestrate both the first (and second) Concerto, but these attempts failed — today the original version, which came from the pen of 20-year-old Chopin at the time, is widely performed.

The piano concerto in E minor is counted among the works of youth, written just before the composer's departure from his beloved homeland. As it turned out, it was a journey from which he was never to return. In the classical three-part form of the concert, Chopin embodied the early Romantic aesthetics of the enchanting style of brillant, but one can also clearly hear the individual compositional style, which the composer will develop in his subsequent works. In it you can hear longing, which mixes with cheerfulness (especially in the stylized Krakowiak in the finale), lightness with seriousness, and graceful and innocent, romantic exhilarations (especially heard in the second part) are intertwined with melancholy and nostalgia.

The evening will culminate with a performance of Symphony No. 4 in D minor Op. 120 by Robert Schumann, one of the most prominent representatives of German Romanticism. This composer initially wanted to be a pianist — and his desire was so great that in order to perfect the mechanics of his hands with finger-stretching devices, he irreparably damaged it. It was a huge blow for him, but years later he became convinced of another musical profession: composing. His first symphonic attempt — Symphony I — was a success, so he immediately began writing another. However, writing it caused some difficulties for the composer, and the first version completed in 1841, which did not meet his expectations, he postponed for 10 years. Through this delay, the described Symphony received the number not the second, but... the fourth**. Was it worth the wait? Yes! It is a mature musical story, ordered, but filled with the spirit of romanticism. Its characteristic feature is the memorable melodic themes and their astonishing transformations.

Agnieszka Teodora Zabińska

* https://ruchmuzyczny.pl/article/5689 (accessed 08/19/2026).

** https://www.laphil.com/musicdb/pieces/3990/symphony-no-4-in-d-minor-op-120 (accessed 10.03.2026).