Creative struggles

Wykonawcy:

• Adam Klocek – cello
• Mirosław Jacek Błaszczyk – conductor
• The Łódź Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra

Program:

• Witold Lutosławski – The Little Suite [13']
  • Fife
  • Hurra Polka
  • Song
  • Dance
• Witold Lutosławski – Concerto for Cello and Orchestra [30']
• Robert Schumann – Symphony No. 4 in D minor Op. 120 [35']
  • Ziemlich langsam — Lebhaft
  • Romanze: Ziemlich langsam
  • Scherzo: Lebhaft
  • Langsam — Lebhaft

Compere: Andrzej Sułek (The Polish Radio)

The Concerto for Cello and Orchestra of Witold Lutosławski is an example of a piece inspired by an extraordinary instrumentalist. Composed with Mścisław Rostropowicz – one of the best cellists of all time – in mind, the piece alludes to his exceptional sensitivity and technical prowess. Popularized by this Russian artist and often performed with an orchestra conducted by the composer himself, the piece entered the canon of the cello masterpieces of the XXth century. The time of conception of this work influenced the attempts at its interpretation: many connected it with the persecution of the Nobel prize winner Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn in the USSR and considered it an allegory for the conflict of an exceptional individual with a totalitarian regime. Lutosławski himself dismissed such ideas: “If I wanted to write a drama about the conflict of an individual with the collective I would use words to do so” he asserted. In Łódź we will hear the interpretation of Adam Klocek – a cellist and a conductor who has been the director of the Częstochowa Philharmonic since 2020. At the conductor’s podium he will be joined by Mirosław Jacek Błaszczyk, who was in cooperation with the Silesian Philharmonic in Katowice for many years. The program will also include a gentler piece that is, however, not devoid of drama: Robert Schumann’s Symphony No. 4 in D minor.

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

The Little Suite and The Concerto for Cello and Orchestra by Witold Lutosławski are taken from the catalogue of the PWM Edition.