Paul Goodwin is a conductor specialising in historically informed performance, seeking to remain as close as possible to the performance practices of the periods in which the works he conducts were composed. At the Warsaw Philharmonic, he will conduct two works separated by more than a century: Franz Schubert's Symphony No. 5 (1816) and Benjamin Britten's Saint Nicolas, Op. 42 (1948), whose subject naturally echoes the festive season now approaching.

Of Schubert’s six early symphonies, the Symphony No. 5 in B flat major comes closest to Mozart’s ideal of musical beauty. Written when the composer was just nineteen years old, it is a work full of youthful energy and optimism. It continues to be admired for its simplicity and melodic concision, as well as for the lightness and clarity of its form. Contributing to these qualities is the work’s modest orchestral scoring, omitting clarinets, trumpets and timpani, which Schubert most likely chose with performances by semi-amateur ensembles in mind.

The subject of Benjamin Britten’s nine-movement cantata is the life of Nicholas, Bishop of Myra and Lycia, who devoted himself to helping the poor and those in need (it was he who eventually became the prototype for the Christmas figure of Saint Nicholas). This monumental work will be performed by the Choir and Orchestra of the Warsaw Philharmonic, joined in an expanded line-up by, among other instruments, the organ, piano and percussion, together with the Artos Children’s Choir. A particular highlight of the concert will be the appearance of the distinguished British tenor Ian Bostridge.

Grzegorz Zieziula