ICE Classic is showing no signs of slowing down: in July we will see a world-famous conductor leading one of the most important works of Polish 20th century music!
Hot on the heels of the outstanding recital by Elīna Garanča, the ICE Classic cycle – organised by the City of Kraków and the Krakow Festival Office – brings another great event: on 18 July we will hear Krzysztof Penderecki’s St Luke Passion performed by the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal under the baton of the American conductor Kent Nagano.
Nagano started off as an assistant to Sarah Caldwell at the Boston Opera and Seiji Ozawa at the Boston Symphonic Orchestra. He was already showing signs of genius: he made a great impression when he had to unexpectedly fill in for Ozawa in the performance of Mahler’s Symphony No. 9, even though rumour has it there was no time to rehearse and he didn’t even know the score… Nagano went on to join forces with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra in 2006, and together they present their own fresh take on music on stages in Canada and the world over. He has been invited to Kraków to join in the celebrations of a momentous anniversary.
“In 2018, we are celebrating the 85th birthday of Krzysztof Penderecki, one of the most important composers of contemporary music,” says Izabela Helbin, director of the Krakow Festival Office. She adds, “We will hear his monumental, avant-garde t Luke Passion.” Ever since its premiere in Münster in Germany in 1966, the composition has been captivating audiences the world over. “The work has lost nothing of its great intensity, power and moving aesthetic,” Nagano said in an interview for the Salzburg Festival.
The ICE Classic cycle joins Cracovian celebrations of Penderecki’s birthday, which have also included the Penderecki2Cinema concert during the Film Music Festival. The performance was preceded by the ceremonial naming of the Auditorium Hall at the ICE Kraków Congress Centre – where St Luke Passion will be performed – after the composer himself. And this is certainly not the end of anniversary events in Kraków – the city chosen by Penderecki’s as his home. (Barbara Skowrońska)
Sarah Wegener (soprano)
Lucas Meachem (baritone)
Matthew Rose (bass)
Sławomir Holland (narrator)
Kraków Philharmonic Choir
Warsaw Boys' Choir
Orchestre symphonique de Montréal
Kent Nagano (conductor)
