An Evening with Virtuosos
For the nineteenth time, Tychy will soon once again transform into the European capital of music. Thanks to the Silesian Guitar Autumn we will immerse ourselves in the world of extraordinary possibilities of this instrument, and admire the talent, passion and sensitivity of guitar artists. The first such opportunity will arise on 29 September. This time, the organisers of the festival invite you to the Henryk Mikołaj Górecki Silesian Philharmonic in Katowice.
The bar for festival experiences will be set extraordinarily high: after all, it cannot be otherwise when true virtuosos appear on the stage. The figures of Marcin Dylla and Marek Nosal hardly need any introduction, as the names of both performers are well known among artists, composers, critics, and enthusiasts of guitar art, both domestically and internationally. Over the years, the gentlemen have won laurels in the most prestigious guitar competitions in Poland and worldwide. They also maintain an exceptionally active concert schedule, boast an extensive discography, and, as educators at institutions such as the Karol Szymanowski Academy of Music in Katowice, have trained a group of outstanding students. Professor Marek Nosal also serves as the Dean of the Instrumental Faculty at the Katowice academy, and has been the artistic director of Jan Edmund Jurkowski Memorial Guitar Competition and Silesian Guitar Autumn Festival in Tychy for nearly a decade.
At the September concert, the guitarists will be accompanied by the excellent Silesian Chamber Orchestra conducted by Norbert Twórczyński – a conductor of the young generation, who has been serving as the head of Jerzy Semkow Polish Sinfonia Iuventus Orchestra, since the 2022/2023 season. The young maestro combines his artistic activities with teaching at the Academy of Art in Szczecin. The programme of the meeting is exceptionally interesting, offering us a sonic journey from the 19th century to the present times. The musical bookends of the evening will be the symphonies for string orchestra by Felix Mendelssohn- Bartholdy (No. 10 in B minor and No. 7 in D minor). They represent a selection from the thirteen works of this genre in Mendelssohn’s oeuvre. These were composed by a then-teenage genius, who drew on the classical models which he knew and admired. We will listen to two concertos featuring the guitar as the lead instrument. Ich hab’auch Arme ausgestreckt-Mirage, the work of the late Anatolijus Šenderovas, one of the most esteemed Lithuanian composers. His music is characterised by an individual style based on moderate use of modern techniques and a profound, sincere emotionality. As Šenderovas himself said: “Because of this bright side, people identify with my music, as they associate it with life.” Concerto eufonico is, in turn, a piece by a Silesian composer Aleksander Lasoń, one of the representatives of the Generation ’51. The composer’s major sources of inspiration include nature, the sacred, and the freedom which comes from improvisation. This work has made its mark in the festival’s history—it was created especially for the last edition of the Silesian Guitar Autumn, during which it saw its premiere. Concerto eufonico was composed for amplified guitar and three amplified string groups. It was first performed two years ago by none other than Marek Nosal. There is nothing left to do but book the last Sunday evening in September. That is when we will collectively explore the fantastic musical worlds which the first concert of this year’s Silesian Guitar Autumn will reveal to us.
Agnieszka Nowok-Zych
