Artists:

• Anastazja Simińska – vocals
• Maciej Kotarba – conductor
• The Łódź Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra

Program:

• George Gershwin – Cuban Overture
• George Gershwin – the symphonic poem “An American in Paris”
• George Gershwin – songs, jazz standards and musical overtures:
  • “My Cousin In Milwaukee” from the musical “Pardon My English”
  • “Love Is Here To Stay”
  • Overture for the musical “Funny Face”
  • “The Man I Love"  
  • “They All Laughed” from the film “Shall We Dance”
  • Overture for the musical  “Girl Crazy”
  • “I Got Rhythm” from the musical “Girl Crazy”
  • “But Not For Me” from the musical “Girl Crazy”

Compere: Magda Miśka-Jackowska

The symphonic poem “An American in Paris” comes from the catalogue of the PWM Edition

As he himself once said, his body of work is ”a musical kaleidoscope of America, in which races and nations mix and big city life meets the blues”. One of the first classical composers outside of Europe to gain worldwide recognition; a creator who combined the achievements of European musical tradition with jazz – George Gershwin is a truly special character in the annals of music.

In the symphonic poem “An American in Paris” he portrayed one of the cultural capitals of the world at the time living through a period defined as the “années folles” (“the crazy years”). The largest city in France had a flourishing café life, a developing modern fashion scene and artists such as Ernest Hemingway, Francis Scott Fitzgerald and Pablo Picasso. In his own words, Gershwin’s aim was to “portray the impressions of an American newcomer from his visit in Paris – how he wanders the streets, listens to the surrounding sounds, absorbs the atmosphere of France”. To achieve this, the composer combined American elements – rich jazz harmonies and the syncopated rhythmic patterns characteristic for blues music – with French ones – inspirations taken from Claude Debussy and the Les Six group and the lightness and elegance typical for the music from the banks of the Seine. The sheet music also contains references to the soundscape of Paris – Gershwin included four taxi horns in different keys within the piece.

A great ambition of Gershwin (that he partly fulfilled) was to gain acclaim in the conservative musical community of the Old Continent. However, his most natural environment was first and foremost the Tin Pan Alley – a New York group of composers and publishers who had their parts in the creation of the tunes that later reigned supreme on the musical stages of Broadway. George created one of the most excellent and prolific duos in the American history with his brother Ira, a brilliant lyricist and libretto writer. Their works include songs such as “Love is here to stay” or “Man I Love”, which today are renowned jazz standards, but also musicals whose overtures we will hear during the concert: “Pardon My English” (a farce on the reality of the times of prohibition set in the pre-second world war Dresden), “Funny Face” (a comedy centered around the misunderstandings related to the disappearance of a valuable stamp collection) or “Girl Crazy” (a tale of a rich townsman who takes over a family ranch and turns it into a noisy playhouse).

We will embark on this musical journey on the thin border between classical music and jazz together with Anastazja Simińska, a musical actress and vocalist known from her performances in the biggest Polish productions. The Łódź Philharmonic Orchestra will be conducted by Maciej Kotarba, who, despite having just started his career, has already conducted orchestras in London, Hong Kong, Manchester and Athens.

At 6:15 PM we invite you to the Henryk Czyż Chamber Hall for a pre-concert meeting led by Magda Miśka-Jackowska.

Listen to the concert playlist with Gershwin's music in diverse interpretations by the best jazz musicians in history:

Top photo: Maciej Kotarba, phot. Marcin Stępień