The Warsaw Philharmonic’s artistic director Krzysztof Urbański appeared at the conductor’s podium, and the performers also included the Warsaw Philharmonic Chorus, the Voci di Bambini children’s choir, as well as German, Finnish and Polish singers.
The current season is the first that has been fully programmed by Urbański, who was appointed to the post of artistic director two years ago.
A total of 61 concerts of symphonic and choral music are planned, as well as 16 chamber music concerts and 36 concerts for children.
The season’s highlights include performances by prominent pianists such as Grigory Sokolov, Piotr Anderszewski, Garrick Ohlsson, Boris Giltburg, Cédric Tiberghien and Kate Liu.
Warsaw music fans will also have the chance to hear violinists Nemanja Radulović, Vadim Gluzman, Leila Josefowicz, Bartłomiej Nizioł, Jakub Jakowicz, and Janusz Wawrowski, and cellists Johannes Moser and Sol Gabetta.
World-famous Polish countertenor Jakub Józef Orliński is to appear in Warsaw twice this season, in an oratorio repertoire and a Lieder recital.
Polish music is strongly represented, with works by Ignacy Jan Paderewski, Karol Szymanowski, Aleksander Tansman, Mieczysław Wajnberg, Grażyna Bacewicz, Witold Lutosławski, Henryk Mikołaj Górecki, and Krzysztof Penderecki.
Guest conductors who will direct the Warsaw Philharmonic in coming months include Leonard Slatkin, Trevor Pinnock, Paolo Bortolameolli, Ingo Metzmacher, and Vasily Petrenko.
At 42, Urbański is the youngest conductor at the helm of one of Poland’s leading musical institutions in its post-war history.
He combines his duties in Warsaw with those of the principal conductor of the Berner Symphonieorchester.
The 2025/26 season is the 124th season in the history of the Warsaw Philharmonic.
(mk/ał)