Benjamin Bilse - Kaleidoscope

The second album of West Side Sinfonietta, active under the auspices of the National Forum of Music in Wrocław and the Szczecin Philharmonic, includes works by one of the leading conductors of the second half of the 19th century, Benjamin Bilse, whose activities had a great influence, among others, on the cultural panorama of Berlin, a result of his impact being the creation of the Berliner Philharmoniker.

Album premiere: November 24, 2023

Publishers: NFM, CD Accord

Performers: Marcin Danilewski – violin and direction, Karolina Hyla-Wybraniec – violin, West Side Sinfonietta

A year before Bilse’s death, the Berliner Tageblatt emphasised his exceptional merits: thanks to him, Legnica had become a significant centre for music in Silesia. The artist enjoyed great respect and recognition from his contemporaries in Legnica. At the end of the nineteenth century, still during his lifetime, a newly laid out street (today’s Jana Pawła II Street) and a square (now Orląt Lwowskich Square) were named after Bilse. In the 1930s, the square was renamed after Hindenburg, but the street name survived until 1945. The war and subsequent historical events made Benjamin Bilse – one of the most eminent citizens of Legnica – a forgotten figure. His memory was only revived in the twenty-first century. The street running alongside the western wing of the Knights Academy in Legnica is now named after this outstanding conductor from Legnica. His music is also making a comeback, as exemplified by this album. The West Side Sinfonietta takes you on an extraordinary journey through time to a world that no longer exists, offering a musical encounter with the compositions of one of the most outstanding conductors of the second half of the nineteenth century.

Jakub Kukla, Polish Radio 2