Time 15:00
The Museum of Ramnticism in Opinogóra, Zygmunta Krasińskiego 9, Opinogóra Górna
Vocal music was not among the primary interests of Fryderyk Chopin, who was deeply devoted to the piano. Yet the songs he composed almost incidentally occupy a special place in his catalogue, constituting a kind of “intimate diary,” as Mieczysław Tomaszewski aptly described them. These works, filled with the composer’s emotions, impressions, and raptures, are distinguished by remarkable stylistic and thematic diversity. What unites them are their distinctively Polish lyrics – only the charming Lithuanian Song uses a translated folk text, translated into Polish by Ludwik Osiński.
The earliest songs date from the late 1820s and early 1830s. At that time, idyllic pieces such as The Wish (Życzenie) and Where She Loves (Gdzie lubi), written to the words of Stefan Witwicki, often found their way into young women’s song albums. The manuscript of one of the two love poems by Adam Mickiewicz set to music by Chopin, Out of My Sight (Precz z moich oczu), was found in one such album – the notebook of Elsner’s daughter Emilia. Yet, it is the arrangement of another one of Mickiewicz’s poems, My Darling (Moja pieszczotka), that enjoys greater recognition and popularity today.
The songs composed after the fall of the November Uprising are set in a darker mood. In The Sad River (Smutna rzeka) and The Betrothed (Narzeczony), one can clearly hear elegiac tones. Among the reflective pieces marked by the dramatic fate of the Polish nation are the moving Melody (Melodia), to a text by Zygmunt Krasiński, and Leaves Are Falling from the Tree (Leci liście z drzewa), evoking the tragedy of exile. The latter is the only surviving one of ten or twenty songs improvised in spontaneous response to Wincenty Pol’s deeply stirring collection of insurgent poetry. Bearing the significant date May 3 (with an exclamation mark), this song – a sorrowful voice of its generation – will close today’s concert program.
Marta Dziewanowska-Pachowska
PROGRAM
Życzenie Op. 74 No. 1, lyrics by Stefan Witwicki
Gdzie lubi Op. 74 No. 5, lyrics by Stefan Witwicki
Poseł Op. 74 No. 7, lyrics by Stefan Witwicki
Hulanka Op. 74 No. 4, lyrics by Stefan Witwicki
Czary, lyrics byStefan Witwicki
Nie ma czego trzeba Op. 74 No. 13, lyrics by Bohdan Zaleski
Prelude in D-flat Major, Op. 28 No. 15
Dwojaki koniec Op. 74 No. 11, lyrics by Bohdan Zaleski
Śliczny chłopiec Op. 74 Np. 8, lyrics by Bohdan Zaleski
Piosnka litewska Op. 74 Np. 16, lyrics by Ludwik Osiński (after the text of a Lithuanian folk song)
Pierścień Op. 74 No. 14, lyrics by Stefan Witwicki
Narzeczony Op. 74 No. 15, lyrics by Stefan Witwicki
Wojak Op. 74 Np 10, lyrics by Stefan Witwicki
Mazurka in A Minor, Op. 17 No. 4
Smutna rzeka Op. 74 No. 3, lyrics by Stefan Witwicki
Dumka, lyrics by Bohdan Zaleski
Wiosna Op. 74 No. 2, lyrics by Stefan Witwicki
Melodia Op. 74 No. 9, lyrics by Zygmunt Krasiński
Precz z moich oczu Op. 74 No. 6, lyrics by Adam Mickiewicz
Moja pieszczotka Op. 74 No. 12, lyrics by Adam Mickiewicz
Leci liście z drzewa Op. 74 No. 17, lyrics by Wincenty Pol
PERFORMERS
DOROTA LACHOWICZ MEZZOSOPRANO
WITOLD ŻOŁĄDKIEWICZ BARITONE
DAGMARA DUDZIŃSKA GRAND PIANO
Duration: approx. 1 h (no intermission).
Patron of the Polish Roysl Opera
Patron of Opera on Tour
Patron of Opera on Tour
Patron of the program Opera Workshops
Patron of Opera on Tour
