News
April 2018
Zygmunt Krauze’s A to Z
2018-04-25
Intriguing, inspiring, moving…
The A to Z of Zygmunt Krauze, April’s COMPOSER OF THE MONTH, will be nothing if not stimulating. Not wishing to drop any hints, we leave you the pleasure of following the paths set out by the composer.
'Cleopatra’s Songs' – a new work by Agata Zubel
2018-04-20
‘If we had to burn all of Shakespeare’s plays but one […] I’d choose Antony and Cleopatra’, wrote the British poet and writer W. H. Auden. This work, of outstanding poetical and theatrical qualities, could not have found a better interpreter than the composer and singer Agata Zubel, who has linked her artistic path almost entirely with words. Invoking original excerpts from Shakespeare’s work, Zubel does not tell the ancient queen’s story, but in her music she expresses Cleopatra’s love, anger, fear, sorrow, courage and pride. She shows the truth about the woman-goddess beset by contradictory passions.
Marcin Stańczyk, first Resident-Composer of Musica Polonica Nova Festival
2018-04-11
Upcoming 31st edition of the "Musica Polonica Nova" festival in Wrocław is going to take place on 20-28 april. It is, next to "Warsaw Autumn", among the oldest polish festivals dedicated to new music. One of the ideas of MPN's new artistic director Paweł Hendrich is to show the work of one particular composer during each edition of the festival. The first artist to be invited as a Resident-Composer is Marcin Stańczyk. Congratulations!
Give me some music (…)*
2018-04-09
On 27 April, the world première of Agata Zubel’s Cleopatra’s Songs for voice and instrumental ensemble will take place. The work was inspired by the now-legendary love story of Antony and Cleopatra. In it, the composer utilizes fragments from the text of Shakespeare’s drama.
The work was commissioned by Klangforum Wien and is dedicated to that ensemble. This is the second work, after What is the Word (2012), to be commissioned by Klangforum Wien from Agata Zubel.
The world première will take place in Germany (Witten) during the Wittener Tage für Neue Kammermusik. Cleopatra’s Songs will be performed by Agata Zubel (S) and Klangforum Wien under Emilio Pomárico. The concert will be broadcast by WDR3 radio.
Zygmunt Krauze – COMPOSER OF THE MONTH in April
2018-04-03
The April COMPOSER OF THE MONTH campaign will familiarize music lovers with the œuvre of Zygmunt Krauze. He is an extraordinary figure in the music community: a composer, pianist, teacher and organizer of musical events. This year, the composer will be celebrating his 80th birthday.
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It’ s like a game. The memory game, thanks to which you can look at a very ordinary family from an extraordinary perspective. ALBUM RODZINNY [Family album] – an opera by Jerzy Kornowicz with a libretto by Michał Rusinek – is another premiere of the ANAKLASIS label this year. This time, the record brand is expanding its audience to include the youngest listeners. The album will be released on 21st June.
Time passes constantly, changing the world and its soundscape around us. The title IL TEMPO PASSA may be both a reflection on the impermanence of life, world and things and a piece of advice to enjoy the moment. The latest album by ANAKLASIS presents Joanna Wnuk-Nazarowa’s cameral and symphonic works from recent years. Premiere on 28 May 2024, on the composer’s 75th birthday.
It is a musical-literary tale about a quest for identity, truth, and for what makes us human. The new stage work by Aleksander Nowak – which is, at the same time, Radek Rak’s operatic debut – explores the sources of good and evil, fusing reality with mythology and steering towards ‘the left-hand side of the world’. The authors spin a tale about the dual human nature. THE TALE OF THE HEART. FAVOLA IN MUSICA – the album that presents their joint project – will go on sale on 6th October.
Spectacularly successful as Ludomir Różycki’s music was in his lifetime, it is seldom programmed nowadays. All the same, such remarkable art could hardly fall into utter oblivion. It has attracted and fascinated excellent jazz pianist Kuba Stankiewicz, who has translated it into the language of jazz. The effects have been recorded and released on ANAKLASIS label’s most recent album, INSPIRED BY LUDOMIR RÓŻYCKI, which goes on sale as of 28th August.
PWM Edition is entering the execution phase of the revitalisation of its Warsaw department. With the commencement of the renovation and the implementation of the assumptions of the architectural design, the Hire Department and the editorial office of “Ruch Muzyczny” are moving to a temporary headquarters at 19 Wiejska Street, Warsaw.
This is by no means a piece about the centuries-long Polish-German conflict. It is, instead, a tale of impossible love, of tragic conflict between personal happiness and the common good.
PWM Edition resumes cooperation with the Italian publishing house Ricordi, as well as with its international partners forming Universal Music Publishing Classics & Screen. This means that rentals of orchestral materials from the catalogues of all publishing houses belonging to Classics & Screen is carried out in Poland by Dział Zbiorów Nutowych (Sheet Music Department) of PWM.
The most fascinating phenomena in contemporary music; a wide range of genres; outstanding works, excellent composers and performers – are the trademarks of the record label ANAKLASIS, launched by PWM Edition. ANAKLASIS is now celebrating its third birthday. It continues to grow at a dizzying pace and maintains the high artistic standards of its releases.
When asked to attempt a definition of her music, she called it lyrical expressionism. The choice of this term says much about the emotional intensity of Elżbieta Sikora’s music, which may reflect the experience of her two home countries, Poland and France, but is also a consequence of her artistic maturation in an age when two powerful trends – the avant-garde and neo-Classicism – were vying for the palm. Such a label may also result from the artist’s focus on the listener as her target, whom she invariably attempts to surprise, shock, or bewilder.