The 4th BESKID CLASSICAL FESTIVAL “BESKID CLASSICS”, taking place from August 31 to September 16 this year in Bielsko-Biała, Szczyrk, Ustroń, Żywiec and Cieszyn, will be the first truly regional event of this kind in the Beskids, with a programme this year at a truly European level. We are glad that its organisation is supported by so many local entities, but also by the Marshal’s Office of the Silesian Voivodeship, the National Centre for Culture and the National Institute of Music and Dance. Thanks to this, we will be able to invite you to as many as 8 concerts!
We will start with events in the region – chamber concerts in the acoustically excellent concert hall of the Music School in Żywiec, magical interiors of the Bator Art Gallery in Szczyrk and, above all, a unique event at the Amphitheater in Ustroń – a performance by the world’s most famous Polish folk group Warsaw Village Band. This time, exceptionally, the group will perform with the accompaniment of a symphony orchestra (Zabrze Philharmonic). The programme will feature the symphonic fantasy “Waterduction”, based on songs from the band’s album, which two years ago was recognised in the “world music” category as the best in Europe and the fourth best in the world!
Celebrating the 300th anniversary of granting city rights to Biała Krakowska, we invite you to three unique places in Bielsko-Biała: a baroque concert by the Italian female band Ensemble Giardino di Delizie at the Sułkowski Castle, a chamber concert of the Czech Philharmonic Quartet from Prague (one of the best orchestras in the world!) and a concert with works by Mozart, Shostakovich and Respighi in the excellent concert hall of the State Music School in Bielsko-Biala. A very special thing will be the world premiere of a new double concerto “Chaconne op. 63” by one of Poland’s leading composers Mikołaj Górecki. To celebrate this special anniversary admission to all concerts in Bielsko-Biała will be free.
The festival will be concluded with a SYMPHONY GALA for the entire Beskid region, with the participation of the Slovak Sinfonietta orchestra from Žilina. A beautiful postlude to the festival will be organised by Adam Mickiewicz Theatre in Cieszyn: a concert by Kevin Kenner, the American winner of the International Chopin Competition in 1990, with the participation of chamber musicians of the excellent Sinfonietta Cracovia.
As usual – beautiful music, in beautiful interiors and in beautiful mountains – a real cultural feast. We cordially invite you!
Paweł Kotla
Dyrektor Festiwalu
We will open the festival with an intimate, musical prelude in our favourite Bator Art Gallery in Szczyrk. The concert will be performed by Justyna Khil – an exceptional singer who has won many awards at singing competitions, including the first prize at the Antonina Campi International Vocal Competition. She will perform with one of the most interesting and charismatic pianists of the young generation, finalist of the “Young Musician of the Year” Eurovision competition and winner of the second prize in the latest edition of the International Polish Music Competition – Rozalia Kierc. Together they will perform the most beautiful and atmospheric piano pieces and songs from the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries.
7:00 pm, Bator Art Gallery, ul. Myśliwska 60, Szczyrk
[entry: 50 zł]
THE PRELUDE: „SUMMER NIGHT’S SILVER MIRACLE” – THE EVENING OF BALLADS AND POETRY
Justyna Khil – soprano
Rozalia Kierc – piano
Programme:
Piano works by Johannes Brahms, George Gershwin and songs by Richard Strauss, Mieczysław Karłowicz, Karol Szymanowski.
The special opening night of the festival will take place almost right on the banks of the Vistula River and will be thematically related to this river. Probably the world’s most famous Polish folk band Warsaw Village Band will perform in a unique context, accompanied by a symphony orchestra. Under the baton of Paweł Kotla, the artistic director of the festival, together with the Zabrze Philharmonic Orchestra, they will perform the Symphony Fantasia “Waterduction” – a fascinating symphonic piece composed by four composers, based on the musical material of the band’s spectacular album, which in 2021 in the “World Music” category was recognised as the best in Europe and fourth in the world! We guarantee that it will be a great, but also unique concert, and both fans of the band and fans of symphonic music will not be disappointed.
7:00 pm, Amfiteatr, ul.Parkowa, Ustroń
[admission free]
OPENING NIGHT: „WATERDUCTION”
Warsaw Village Band
Paweł Kotla – conductor
Zabrze Philharmonic Orchestra
Programme:
Anna Ignatowicz-Glińska, Nikola Kołodziejczyk, Patryk Walczak, Przemysław Zych – Symphony Fantasia „Waterduction”
The concert THE MUSICAL TRANSATLANTIC will be presented in the great acoustics concert hall of the Music School in Żywiec. The Cracow Golden Quintet band has prepared a programme consisting of works by European composers, but also by George Gershwin, referring to America’s fascination with the culture of the Old Continent. In order to emphasise the transatlantic cultural contacts of both continents, the program will include settings of sea shanties composed by the British composer Malcolm Arnold.
7:00 pm, Concert Hall of the Music School, ul. Sienkiewicza 19, Żywiec
[entry: 50 zł]
THE MUSICAL TRANSATLANTIC
CRACOW GOLDEN QUINTET
Natalia Jarząbek – flute
Kamil Kuc – oboe
Tomasz Sowa – clarinet
Małgorzata Wygoda – bassoon
Konrad Gołda – French horn
Programme:
Ferenc Farkas – The Old Hungarian Dances
George Gershwin – „An American in Paris”
Jacques Ibert – Trois Pièces Brèves
Wojciech Kilar – Wind Quintet
Malcolm Arnold – Three Shanties
The final part of the festival, referring this year to the 300th anniversary of granting city rights to Biała Krakowska, will take place in buildings from three different periods of Bielsko-Biała’s history. The first one will take place in the acoustically perfect concert hall of the State Music School in Bielsko-Biała. It will feature the violinist Renata Pawelec from Bielsko-Biała, pianist Maria Rutkowska and one of the best chamber orchestras in Poland, giving regular concerts in Poland and abroad, the Baltic Neopolis Orchestra. The program will include extremely popular works from classical period to the present day – from Mozart’s Eine kleine Nachtmusik to the shocking Eighth String Quartet by Dmitry Shostakovich. The absolute hit of this event will be the world premiere of the piece “Chaconne op. 63” by Mikołaj Górecki, a world-renowned composer whose family has been associated with the Festival of Polish Composers in Bielsko-Biała for a quarter of a century.
7:00 pm, Concert Hall of ZPSM, ul. Wyspiańskiego 5A, Bielsko-Biała
[admission free, reservations: ]
NEW HORIZONTS
Renata Pawelec – violin
Maria Rutkowska – piano
Paweł Kotla – conductor
Baltic Neopolis Orchestra
Programme:
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart – Eine kleine Nachtmusik
Ottorino Respighi – Antiche arie e danze
Mikołaj Górecki – Chaconne op. 63 [WORLD PREMIERE]
Dymitr Szostakowicz – Chamber Symphony (8th String Quartet)
The Czech Philharmonic in Prague is among the top 20 orchestras in the world. This is an ensemble that, like the Vienna Philharmonic, is famous all over the world for its unique sound, dating back to the tradition of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. A string quartet consisting of the leading musicians of this ensemble will perform at the concert in Willa Sixta, the place full of secrets and wonderful art. They will present music from the 19th century, i.e. the times when the industrialist Theodor SIxt was active in Bielsko-Biała, also building this unusual house. Virtually every song on the evening’s program is a hit, including the famous “American” quartet by Antoni Dvorak and his “Humoresque”, the beautiful “Andante cantabile” by Pyotr Tchaikovsky and the heart-rending “Intermezzo” by Mascagni. In this unique context, the ensemble will present its interpretation of the beautiful Polish String Quartet No. 1 by Zygmunt Noskowski. The concerts of our festival at Willa Sixta are especially loved by our listeners and we are convinced that they will not be disappointed this time as well.
7:00 pm, Willa Sixta, ul. Mickiewicza 24, Bielsko-Biała
[admission free, no reservations]
BIELITZ’S MUSICAL SALON – MUSIC FROM THE TIME OF SIXT
CZECH PHILHARMONIC QUARTET (Czechia)
Leoš Čepický – I violin
Viktor Mazáček – II violin
Jiří Poslední – viola
Jakub Dvořák – cello
Programme:
Zygmunt Noskowski – String quartet no. 1 in D minor
Piotr Czajkowski – Andante cantabile
Antonin Dvorak – Quartet no. 12 in F major, „American”
Pietro Mascagni – Intermezzo (from „Cavaleria rusticana”)
Johannes Brahms – Hungarian Dance
Hermann Necke – Csikos Post
Antonin Dvorak – Humoresque
The female Polish-Italian Baroque ensemble Ensemble Giardino di Delizie from Rome is a guarantee of extraordinary interpretation and excellent musical energy. The band members will perform in the beautiful indoor courtyard of the Sułkowski Castle in Bielsko-Biała during the exhibition dedicated to the 300th anniversary of granting city rights to Biała Krakowska. The extremely interesting program of the concert will refer not only to the splendour of the Duchy of Bielsko, but also to the contacts between Poland and Italy, in which the city has played a unique role for centuries. The programme of the concert, apart from works by Polish and Italian composers, will obviously also include Georg Philipp Telemann – probably the most famous composer who lived in this area for many years. His fame was envied even by Johann Sebastian Bach.
7:00 pm, Historical Museum – Sułkowski Castle, ul. Wzgórze 16, Bielsko-Biała
[admission free, reservations: tel. 33 817 13 61 or at the box office during the museum’s opening hours: https://muzeum.bielsko.pl/pl/bilety]
BETWEEN THE SUNNY ITALIA AND RZECZPOSPOLITA
Ensemble Giardino di Delizie Baroque Ensemble (Italy)
Ewa Augustynowicz – violin
Agnieszka Oszańca – cello
Giorgia Zanin – theorbo
Elisabetta Ferri – harpsichord
Programme:
Works by Arcangelo Corelli, Domenico Scarlatti, Georg Philipp Telemann, Francesco Geminiani, Adam Jarzębski.
The finale – SYMPHONIC GALA “BESKID CLASSICS”, which last year attracted the large international audience, representatives of social and business organisations, as well as local government from the entire Beskids region, together with special guests from abroad, has become a tradition of our festival. This year it will be a summary of this dynamically growing project. The programme will include the beautiful Violin Concerto and the famous Symphony No. 1 in C major by Ludwig van Beethoven. The soloist will be Juraj Čižmarovič – winner of many violin competitions, concertmaster of the WDR Radio Orchestra in Cologne and of the famous Wagner Festival Orchestra in Bayreuth. Based in Žilina, a twin city of Bielsko-Biała, the Slovak National Chamber Orchestra “Slovak Sinfonietta” will perform under the baton of its new artistic director, František Macek.
7:00 pm, Concert Hall of ZPSM, ul. Wyspiańskiego 5A, Bielsko-Biała
[admission free, reservations: ]
SYMPHONIC GALA “BESKID CLASSICS”
Juraj Čižmarovič – violin (Slovakia)
František Macek – conductor (Czechia)
Slovak National Chamber Orchestra “Slovak Sinfonietta” (Slovakia)
Programme:
Ludwig van Beethoven – Violin Concerto in D major
Ludwig van Beethoven – Symphony No. 1 in C major
A kind of postlude to the above events will be organised by Adam Mickiewicz Theatre in Cieszyn, in cooperation with our festival. This will be an all-Chopin concert as part of the “Classics by the Olza River” series. The programme will include Piano Concerto no. 2 in F minor, as well as Andante spianato et Grande polonaise brilliante by Fryderyk Chopin in a unique version – with the accompaniment of a string quintet. The second part of the concert will be a solo recital. The soloist of the evening will be the winner of the 1990 International Chopin Piano Competition, the outstanding American pianist Kevin Kenner. He will be accompanied by the quintet of leaders of Sinfonietta Cracovia – an ensemble considered as one of the best European chamber orchestras.
6:00 pm, Adam Mickiewicz Theatre, Plac Teatralny 1, Cieszyn
[entry: 40-130 zł]
KEVIN KENNER AND SINFONIETTA CRACOVIA PLAYERS
Concert organised in collaboration with Adam Mickiewicz Theatre as part of their “Classics by the Olza River” cycle.
Kevin Kenner – piano (USA)
Sinfonietta Cracovia Players
Programme:
Works by Fryderyk Chopin: Piano concerto no. 2 in F minor, Andante spianato, nocturns, mazurkas, waltzes.
Festival Office
Temida Arts & Business Foundation
ul. Gałczyńskiego 39
43-300 Bielsko-Biała
KRS: 0000754893
NIP: 9372717839
+48 33 812 34 90
Made by Wertui Sp. z o.o.