Chopin and his Europe

The programme included works by Mozart (with Katia and Marielle Labeque in the E flat major Piano Concerto), Mahler (Symphony No. 1), Albert Lortzing (the overture to the 1831 opera “Der Pole und sein Kind”/The Pole and his Child, which contains a quotation from the Polish national anthem) and Andrzej Panufnik’s “A Procession of Peace”.

In that last work the European Union Youth Orchestra was joined by the I Culture Orchestra, the brainchild of the Warsaw-based Adam Mickiewicz Institute, which brings together musicians from countries post-Soviet republics.

Held under the motto “From Italy to Poland: from Mozart to Bellini”, this year’s event presents Chopin’s oeuvre in the context of works by the composers who were closest to his heart – Bach, Mozart, Haydn and Bellini.

The programme of the two-week festival, which runs until 31 August, comprises over thirty events: recitals, orchestral and chamber concerts, and a semi-staged opera performance (Bellini’s “I Capuleti e i Montecchi”).

Among the artists featured are pianists Yulianna Avdeeva, Andreas Staier, Nelson Goerner, Jan Lisiecki, Jonathan Plowright, and Tobias Koch, as well as the tenor Ian Bostridge.

The Orchestra of the 18th Century under the Polish conductor Grzegorz Nowak is the festival’s resident orchestra. Poland’s leading orchestras – Sinfonia Varsovia and Warsaw Philharmonic – are also billed. (mk/rg)