Kraków to honour composer Penderecki
PR dla Zagranicy
Victoria Bieniek
15.02.2018 10:30
Polish composer Krzysztof Penderecki, who turns 85 later this year, will be honoured in Kraków, a city with which he has forged close bonds throughout his career.
Krzysztof Penderecki. Photo: Wikimedia Commons
The city's council, the Kraków Festival Bureau and the Sinfonietta Cracovia have unveiled a programme of special events in tribute to the composer.
Highlights include four concerts featuring a selection of his major works performed by leading Polish and foreign orchestras and soloists.
On 18 July, Penderecki’s St Luke's Passion will be performed by the Montreal Symphony Orchestra under Kent Nagano, with Sarah Wegener, Lucas Meachem and Matthew Rose as the soloists, and two Polish choirs.
On 24 November, a day after the composer’s birthday, the Słowacki Theatre will be the venue of a gala concert under the motto ‘Vienna and Berlin in tribute to Penderecki’, featuring the Sinfonietta Cracovia and Austrian and German soloists.
Special events are also planned at Kraków’s Music Academy, which this year celebrates its 130th anniversary and hopes that Penderecki, its former rector, will write a piece to grace the occasion.
Penderecki’s vast output includes symphonic and chamber music, concertos, large-scale vocal-instrumental works and operas.
His long list of honours, distinctions, medals and honorary doctorates testifies to his position as one of the greatest living composers. He has received the Order of the White Eagle, the highest Polish state distinction, State Prizes of Germany, Austria, France and Monaco, and several Grammy awards. (mk/vb)