Simplicity (Paderewski’s Un moment musical) and complexity, the piling up of technical difficulties (Szymanowski), stand poles apart. Other landmarks here are formed by references to the musical past (Paderewski) and a search for inspirations in traditional folk and ethnic music (Bartók and Ginastera). Let us also just point to a yearning for melodiousness (Liszt), which vies with sharp rhythms and harsh harmonies (Bartók and Ginastera again), and the ‘list of signposts’ on this repertorial trail will be complete. Opposites attract. When juxtaposed, they generate powerful energy and suggest wholly unexpected conclusions.
Simply... Philharmonic! Project 2:
The main discourse in this series of concerts is between solo piano and chamber music, but there is also the phenomenon of ‘intraspecies rivalry’ between the mighty pianoforte that inhabits concert halls across the globe and historical instruments that, while still in the minority, are slowly gaining ground. Until quite recently, presenting Chopin’s music on nineteenth-century pianos was seen as nothing short of heresy. Today, it is a separate strand of interpretation that has even been afforded its own performance competition.
Marcin Majchrowski
