The Sinfonietta Cracovia is opening the 2010 season by bringing attention to the anniversaries of two composers being celebrated in this year – Fryderyk Chopin (born 1810) and Gustav Mahler (born 1860). During the 7 January concert at the Kraków Philharmonic the orchestra will be conducted by Jacek Kaspszyk.

Serving as a bow in the direction of Chopin Year will be the performance of the Polish composer’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in E minor. In terms of its construction, it alludes to the contemporary popularity of the style brillant, hence the classical musical forms and dance-like motifs – the first movement of the concerto is a sonata allegro, and the final is a stylisation of a traditional Polish dance, the krakowiak. However, Chopin added to these formal foundations a sensibility far removed from his carefree character. Zdzisław Jachimecki wrote about this concerto: “A truly Romanesque perfection of form [in which] is hidden a poetic sensibility wrapped in the spirit of a Romantic”.

In Kraków it will be played by the very young artist Jan Lisiecki. Dubbed an “aristocrat of the piano”, this virtuoso of Polish extraction, who lives in Canada, is barely fourteen years old. He is achieving a great deal of success on the other side of the pond and has also received positive reviews in Poland. Thanks to his performances of both of the Polish composer’s concertos (in 2008 and 2009) he was hailed as a sensation at the Chopin and His Europe International Music Festival. His New Year’s Eve recital in Chopin’s birthplace, Żelazowa Wola will inaugurate the official Chopin Year celebrations. Critics have noted that “he plays very sensibly, but with feeling”. These features will certainly allow him to combine the technical and formal requirements of the concerto with his Romantic dash and refinement.

In contrast, Mahler’s oeuvre will be represented by Totenfeier, a work not deprived of a Polish accent – apparently the inspiration behind its composition was Adam Mickiewicz’s Dziady. Totenfeier was not an illustration of a literary text; rather it was supposed to make it possible for listeners to pose themselves fundamental questions about the meaning of life and death. Will these themes in fact be apparent in the restless cello and double bass motif that opens the work or in the cheerful theme taken up by the violins? Let’s judge for ourselves.