The programme featured Fryderyk Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 2, performed by Romanian pianist Alexandra Dariescu, alongside works by two leading 20th-century Polish composers: Witold Lutosławski’s Little Suite and Grażyna Bacewicz’s Scherzo, orchestrated by the orchestra's artistic director, Krzysztof Urbański.
The tour programme also included Pyotr Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 6, the Pathétique; and Ludwig van Beethoven's Symphony No. 7.
On its website, Birmingham’s Symphony Hall described the Warsaw Philharmonic as "a cherished national institution established in 1901, credited with establishing Warsaw as the country’s musical centre."
It added that Urbański was "the latest in a succession of Polish chief conductors that has ensured the orchestra retains a distinctive national character."
Reviewing the orchestra's performance at London’s Cadogan Hall for the Seen and Heard International website, critic Alexander Verney-Elliott praised Urbański’s interpretation of Bacewicz’s Scherzo, writing that the conductor led the orchestra "with incisive clarity and structural poise," producing "a distinctive dark-grained sonority with a visceral verve."
He described Dariescu’s performance in Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 2 as one "of remarkable poise, refinement and emotional economy," adding that the orchestra accompanied her "with finely judged sensitivity."
Verney-Elliott also praised the orchestra’s performance of Tchaikovsky’s Pathétique Symphony, describing Urbański’s conducting as "intensely incisive" and marked by "clear structural focus and controlled expression."
Critic William Ruff, writing for Reviews Gate after the Nottingham concert, said Bacewicz's Scherzo revealed "an entirely modern voice emerging loud and clear from under a protective veil of politically acceptable tradition."
He also praised the orchestra’s performance of Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony, describing it as "lithe, athletic" and "purposeful."
"It was a performance in which all sections of the Warsaw Philharmonic rose to the occasion — and the audience loved it," Ruff wrote.
The UK tour was the Warsaw Philharmonic’s 160th international tour and the first under Urbański, who became the orchestra’s artistic director in September 2024.
(mk/gs)