SYMPHONIC CONCERT / KUSZLIK – MAKSYMIUK

“I truly like autumn; when the leaves fall, my thoughts become richer and more important,” admitted maestro Jerzy Maksymiuk in one of the interviews. The fruit of this particular inspiration is the piece Liście gdzieniegdzie spadające (“Leaves falling here and there“) which opens the concert program. The composer will personally perform the piano part and, together with the Orchestra of the Polish Royal Opera, introduce the audience to a state of concentration and reflection, and then – as a conductor – paint the variety of colors and shades of the compositions by Beethoven.

During the event, the solo part in Piano Concerto No. 3 in C minor, the last of the Viennese classics, will be performed by the winner of the 18th Chopin Competition – Jakub Kuszlik. This piece was first performed by the composer himself as a soloist – in April 1803, when Beethoven was already well aware of the illness that was slowly tearing him away from the world of sounds; hence, perhaps, the strength of internal tension ingrained in the themes and their transformations, as well as the entire range of emotions enchanted in the subsequent parts – from the feeling of doubt, through the deep emotionality of the Largo, to the slightly humorous, but not devoid of a hint of melancholy, final rondo.

This changeability of moods is also present in Symphony No. 4 in B flat major, Op. 60. Described as the most cheerful of the master’s nine symphonies, it begins with an utterly gloomy passage. However, a joyful light emerges from behind the shroud of mystery and does not fade away until the virtuoso finale, requiring extraordinary precision of execution. In the face of such force, is it any wonder that Hector Berlioz, enchanted by the genius of the arrangement of the second movement of the composition, stated that “whoever wrote it was no ordinary man”?

PROGRAM

Jerzy Maksymiuk – Liście gdzieniegdzie spadające for strings and piano
(the piano part performed by the composer)

Ludwig van Beethoven – Piano Concerto No. 3 in C minor, Op. 37

1. Allegro con brio
2. Largo
3. Rondo. Allegro – Presto

— INTERMISSION —

Ludwig van Beethoven – Symphony No. 4 in B flat major, Op. 60

1. Adagio – Allegro vivace
2. Adagio
3. Allegro vivace
4. Allegro ma non troppo

PERFORMERS

JAKUB KUSZLIK GRAND PIANO

THE ORCHESTRA OF THE POLISH ROYAL OPERA

JERZY MAKSYMIUK CONDUCTOR

Duration: approx. 1h 30 min (with an intermission)