Polish Week to be celebrated at concert

ISTANBUL- Hürriyet Daily News

The concert that will be performed by the Istanbul State Symphony Orchestra for Polish Week will be directed by eminent Polish conductor Tadeusz Strugala.

The Istanbul State Symphony Orchestra (İDSO) will perform a concert organized for Polish Week, which celebrates Poland’s turn at the EU presidency, at the Hagia Irene Museum on Oct. 14.

The event is a fine example of the excellent relations between Poland and Turkey on the eve of the 600th anniversary of their diplomatic relations in 2014. The concert was organized with the cooperation of the Consulate General of the Republic of Poland in Istanbul and the Turkey Ministry of Culture and Tourism.

The concert will be directed by eminent Polish conductor Tadeusz Strugala. The orchestra will perform with renowned pianist Krzysztof Jablonski. The program will include works of the most famous Polish composers Frederic Chopin, Henryk Mikolaj Gorecki and Wojciech Kilar.

Maestro Strugala is one of the most successful Polish conductors and academics, professor of classical music and winner of many prestigious awards. He is widely esteemed for the artistic creations of the works of the Wiener Klassik, romantics and contemporary composers. He has conducted many of the most important orchestras – both Polish and foreign – as well as directed many of the Polish classical music festivals. He is very well known to the Turkish people; he has cooperated in the past with symphony orchestras in Ankara and Istanbul. He was the director of the Presidential Symphony Orchestra in Ankara for five years, and in 1989 to 1990 he was the music director of İDSO.

Pianist Jablonski is claimed by critics to be one of the most outstanding interpreters of Chopin’s music. As a soloist he has been performing with the best orchestras of Europe, North America, South America and Asia. For years he has also been active as a chamber musician. In 2010 Jablonski took part in the International İzmir Festival with a piano recital in the ancient Ephesus Odeon. In 1999 he was honored by the Turkey Minister of Culture and Tourism for performing at the 150th anniversary of Chopin’s death.

In 1985 at the age of 20, Jablonski won third prize of The F. Chopin International Piano Competition in Warsaw, interpreting in the final stage Piano Concerto No. 1 in E minor, Op. 11, with the Warsaw National Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Strugala. He will perform this piece with the Istanbul State Symphony Orchestra at the Hagia Irene Museum.

The concert’s program will also include two spectacular works of Polish contemporary classical music. “Three Pieces in Old Style” by Gorecki (1933-2010) is an intentional reference to Renaissance music, uncommon for this avant-garde artist. The symphonic poem “Krzesany” by Wojciech Kilar was inspired by the folk traditions of the Polish mountain region of Zakopane. Its title is the name of a vibrant dance of the highlanders.