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Chopin and His Europe festival opens in Warsaw

18.08.2023 08:30
The annual Chopin and His Europe festival opens in Warsaw on Friday with a recital by Italian violin virtuoso Fabio Biondi.
Audio
Image by Breathless Design from Pixabay
Image by Breathless Design from Pixabay Pixabay licence

The concert, held in the Polish capital's Holy Cross Basilica, where Chopin’s heart is interred in one of the pillars, consists of music by Johan Helmich Roman, Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber, Giuseppe Tartini and Georg Philipp Telemann.

On Friday, August 25, Biondi will conduct his Europa Galante period-instrument ensemble, a group of soloists, and the Podlasie Opera Choir from the northeastern Polish city of Białystok in a concert performance of Paria by Stanisław Moniuszko, the father of Polish national opera.

In recent years, Biondi has done a great deal to promote Moniuszko’s music, with performances of Halka, The RaftsmanThe Countess, Verbum Nobile and Phantoms.

A total of 23 symphonic and chamber music concerts, as well as recitals, are on the programme of this year's Chopin and His Europe festival.

Performers include famous pianists such as Warsaw Chopin Competition winners Bruce Liu, Yulianna Avdeeva and Dang Thai Son, as well as Eric Lu, Piotr Anderszewski, Jonathan Plowright, Kevin Chen, Kate Liu, and Vadym Kholodenko.

Other festival highlights include a concert of Ukrainian music performed by soprano Olga Pasiecznik with her sister Natalia at the piano. The programme of the concert comprises works by composers such as Valentyn Silvestrov, Vasyl Barvikkyi, Borys Lyatoshynskyi, Victor Kosenko, Mykola Kolessa, Yakiv Stepovy and Kyrylo Stetsenko.

Meanwhile, the London Mozart Players, Collegium Vocale Gent, the Belcea Quartet, the Apollon Musagète Quartet and the Warsaw Philharmonic are among the featured ensembles.

The programme of the Chopin and His Europe festival reflects what officials say is the event's continued commitment to promoting Polish composers who remain little known internationally and whose music deserves wider exposure, including Franciszek Mirecki, Juliusz Zarębski and Feliks Janiewicz.

Launched in 2005, the Chopin and His Europe festival is being held for the 19th time. It runs until September 1.

(mk/gs)

Click on the audio player above to listen to a report by Radio Poland's Agnieszka Bielawska.