Artists:

• Janusz Wawrowski - Stradivarius violin
• Toruń Symphony Orchestra
• Wojciech Rodek – conductor
• Wojciech Pławner - assistant conductor

Programme:

• L. van Beethoven - Koncert skrzypcowy D-dur op. 61 (42')
• A.Dvořák - IX Symfonia e-moll „Z nowego świata” op. 95 (35')

Concert with intermission

The event will take place as part of the Viva Beethoven! - the 250th anniversary of the composer's birth project.

The violin will undoubtedly be the hero of this concert. And this is an unusual violin, because Janusz Wawrowski, the concert soloist, plays the Stradivarius from 1685. Pieces by Stradivarius cannot be compared with any other instrument. Their sound is unique. But only a seasoned musician, who Janusz Wawrowski surely is, can bring out its full uniqueness.

Janusz Wawrowski began learning to play the violin at the age of 6. Today he is described as one of the greatest Polish violinists of his generation. He shares his knowledge and skills as a lecturer at the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in Warsaw. He performs as a soloist in the largest concert halls in Poland and all over Europe. He was honoured with a Meritorious for Polish Culture award for his artistic and social accomplishments. In 2017 and 2019, he received the Fryderyk Phonographic Academy award. In 2018, he released his album entitled Hidden Violinwhich is to be the musical show-piece of the Stradivarius violin. The album contains miniatures of Polish violin music.

Janusz Wawrowski will have the opportunity to present his skills in the Violin Concerto in D major, op. 61 by Ludwig van Beethoven. It was created in 1806 for Franz Clement - violinist and conductor of the Theater an der Wien orchestra. Beethoven added corrections to the score two days before the première, so the violinist performed almost without preparation. The concert did not receive positive reviews. Its perception changed only after Beethoven's death. Joseph Joachim disenchanted this piece, which today is in the repertoire of the greatest violinists.

Characteristics that are concise and to the point, of the Concerto in D major, op. 61 is provided by George Marek in his biography of Beethoven: “(...) and yet in his only attempt he did a splendid job in the field of violin concertos. The symphony orchestra and the solo instrument play equal roles in it, it is a piece full of dignity, mystery, sweetness and humour at the same time. To this day, it remains a miracle of form and a challenge for every artist".

Aneta Derkowska, PhD

Symphony No. 9 in E minor 'From the New World' op. 95 remains the most famous and popular piece by Antonin Dvorak to this day. Although it is not a program or an illustrative composition, it provokes the listener to some non-musical references. Researchers of Dworzak's work show that the inspiration for the creation of the two middle movemeents of the symphony was a poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, translated into Czech, entitled: Song of Hiawatha, telling the story of the Indian chief Hiawatha and his beloved Minnehaha. The poem describes Indian rituals and American landscapes: virgin forests and vast prairies.

The conductor during the concert will be Wojciech Rodek - artistic director of the Lublin Philharmonic, music director of the Gliwice Music Theater, guest conductor of the Pomeranian Philharmonic in Bydgoszcz.

The concert co-organised and co-financed under the Institute of Music and Dance 'conductor – resident' programme.

Wojciech Pławner is a violinist and conductor. He graduated from the Academy of Music in Łódź in the violin class of Professor Iwona Wojciechowska. He also studied at the Universität Mozarteum in Salzburg (Austria) and at the Universität für Musik und Darstellende Kunst in Vienna. In 2016 he graduated from the Department of symphonic & choral conducting of the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in the class of Professor Marek Pijarowski and in 2018 he completed a choral conducting course in the class of Professor Bogdan Gola, becoming his assistant in the Department of Choral Conducting, Music Education, Church Music, Rhythmics and Dance in October 2018. He is a laureate of many domestic and international violin competitions. Major achievements include 6th place in the 13th Henryk Wieniawski International Violin Competition in Poznań, 1st place in the Stefanie Holl-Violinwettbewerb Competition in Vienna, Grand Prix and the Apollo’s Chariot award in Olsztyn and 2nd prize in the Louis Spohr International Competition in Weimar (Germany). He has been awarded multiple grants by the Minister of Culture and National Heritage and is a laureate of the Young Poland scholarship programme. As a violinist, Wojciech Pławner had the opportunity to perform in several countries in Europe, as well as in Japan. He refined his skills in conducting courses led by such masters as Jacek Kaspszyk, Robert J. Delekta, Jonathan Brett and Maciej Żółtowski. He received honourable mentions in the 1st A. Kopyciński National Conducting Students’ Competition in Wrocław and in the 6th Witold Lutosławski National Young Conductors’ Competition in Białystok. He has appeared with philharmonic orchestras in Łódź, Katowice, Kielce and Zielona Góra, and with the Chamber Orchestra of the Academy of Music in Łódź. Pławner works together with the “Sinfonietta” Youth Orchestra of the Łódź Region. He was recently appointed as conductor-in-residence of the Toruń Symphony Orchestra for the 2019/2020 season under the Conductor-in-residence programme organised by the Institute of Music and Dance. In 2017 he became a teacher and conductor of the Symphony Orchestra of the Karol Szymanowski State Music School Complex No. 4 in Warsaw.