Common Europe: Wrocław & San Sebastián
The album is a musical summary of the European Capital of Culture celebrations. This title was held by two cities in 2016 – Wrocław in Lower Silesia, Poland, and the Basque city of San Sebastian on the Iberian Peninsula. The album features pieces recorded by the National Forum of Music ensembles, including Maurice Ravel's famous Bolero performed by the NFM Wrocław Philharmonic conducted by Andrzej Kosendiak.
Common Europe: Wrocław & San Sebastián
The album is a musical summary of the European Capital of Culture celebrations. This title was held by two cities in 2016 – Wrocław in Lower Silesia, Poland, and the Basque city of San Sebastian on the Iberian Peninsula. The album features pieces recorded by the National Forum of Music ensembles, including Maurice Ravel's famous Bolero performed by the NFM Wrocław Philharmonic conducted by Andrzej Kosendiak.
Date of release: 2017
Publisher: National Forum of Music
Performers:
Agnieszka Franków-Żelazny – conductor
Andrzej Kosendiak – conductor
Hartmut Rohde – conductor
Łukasz Farcinkiewicz – piano
NFM Leopoldinum Orchestra
Wrocław Baroque Ensemble
NFM Wrocław Philharmonic
The album is a musical summary of the European Capital of Culture celebrations. In 2016, two cities had this title – Wrocław in Lower Silesia, Poland, and the Basque city of San Sebastian on the Iberian Peninsula. The album features pieces recorded by resident ensembles of the National Forum of Music. It opens with a work by the 20th-century composer Wojciech Kilar, Orawa, recorded by the NFM Leopoldinum Orchestra conducted by Hartmut Rohde. The title of the piece, which crowns Kilar’s “Tatra” cycle, evokes a whole range of associations. It refers not only to the region situated on the border of Poland and Slovakia, but also to the river that flows through this region. The course of the Orava can be seen in correlation with the flow of a rapid stream among rocky cliffs, revealing ever new, beautiful yet severe landscapes. The title of the composition is also associated with the name of a mountain meadow (“Oława”), mowed after sheep grazing, on which shepherds, at the end of the shepherding season, danced the zbójnicki.
On the album, Polish folklore was juxtaposed with Spanish folk dances, represented by the bolero. The NFM Wrocław Philharmonic, conducted by Andrzej Kosendiak, recorded the most famous example of this dance – Bolero by Maurice Ravel, a composer who, through this work, made Iberian folklore famous in a unique way.
The album, in addition to emphasising the connections between the two capitals of culture, is a compilation of the work of Wrocław ensembles. In addition to two pieces presenting the national spirit of Poland and Spain, the disc includes the musica heritage of Wrocław. This was achieved by recording a piece by the most outstanding composer of the Polish Baroque, Marcin Mielczewski, some copies of whose works were made in Silesia and are now kept in the Church of St Elizabeth in Wrocław. The Mielczewski was recorded the vocal-instrumental group Wrocław Baroque Ensemble, specialising in early music performed in historically informed style. The programme is complemented by a work dedicated to the NFM Choir. Under the direction of Agnieszka Franków-Żelazny, the choir recorded Łukasz Farcinkiewicz’s Quem diligit anima mea. The composer also performed as a pianist.
The album shows the wide spectrum of the NFM ensembles’ activities, and by presenting both Polish and Spanish works, it also formed a musical bridge connecting the two European Capitals of Culture 2016: Wrocław and San Sebastian.
The album was released thanks to a subsidy from the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage.
