Branford Marsalis – a legend of world jazz, an artistic visionary with a passion for transcending stylistic boundaries, will appear in Warsaw as an esteemed interpreter of classical works. Erwin Schulhoff’s Hot-Sonate for alto saxophone and piano, from 1930, displays an overt fascination with American ragtime and dance music. The artists will be playing a version of the work for saxophone and orchestra, produced by Richard Rodney Bennett in 2004. The witty Boogie, from 1958, by the Białystok-born composer Mischa Spoliansky, presents another facet of jazz in a spectacular, orchestral version. Tallahatchie Concerto by the Dutch composer Jacob ter Veldhuis offers the soloist excellent scope for virtuosic display. The word ‘Tallahatchie’, which in the language of Native Americans means ‘river of rocks’, contains a metaphor of the concerto: the river in Veldhuis’s interpretation is conveyed by time, while the rocks are represented by the events. Leonard Bernstein wrote his Divertimento in 1980 for the Boston Symphony Orchestra – one of the ‘Big Five’ American orchestras. With this work, he marked the centenary of the orchestra from the city of his youth. This charming suite comprises eight diverse miniatures of enchanting musical wit and dazzling instrumental colours.
Urszula Ciołkiewicz-Latek
