Performers:
- National Philharmonic Orchestra,
- Krzysztof Urbański - conductor,
- Michał Sławecki - countertenor,
- Edyta Krzemień - soprano,
- Anna Federowicz - mezzo-soprano.

Programme:
- Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - Symphony in G minor KV 550 [26′],
- Henryk Mikołaj Górecki - Symphony No. 3 'Symphony of Sorrowful Songs', Op. 36 [53′].

Krzysztof Urbanski will conduct two symphonies that occupy a well-deserved place in the contemporary canon of world music masterpieces. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Symphony in G minor KV 550 forms the middle section of the last three symphonies written a few years before the composer's death. Henryk Mikołaj Górecki's Symphony No. 3, on the other hand, was commissioned by the Südwestfunk radio station in Baden-Baden in 1976. It is not known whether Mozart's work enjoyed recognition during the composer's lifetime. Until recently, it was even thought that he may never have heard it performed. The Pole's work was rejected by some avant-garde circles, surprised by the sudden simplification of Górecki's sonic language, although the author himself insisted: "I did not change the clothes of a revolutionary for the Franciscan habit". It was only the 1992 recording by the London Sinfonietta that contributed to the work's worldwide success. Today, the Third Symphony is one of the most frequently performed works of 20th century Polish music in the world. Similarly, Mozart's masterpiece enchanted later generations of composers, who were keen to refer to its cantilena-like melodies. Autographs of the Symphony in G minor were kept with pride by Johannes Brahms himself. The work by the Viennese classicist has no programme, although it has been repeatedly sought out for its hidden content. Górecki, on the other hand, based his work on shocking quotations treating human tragedy and loss. Both symphonies can be recognised from the very first bars. In Mozart's, it is the characteristic lively violin theme; in Górecki's, it is the melody of the canon, taken from the Kurpie region, which appears in the dark registers of the double basses.
[Bartholomew Gembicki]