The Eufonie International Music Festival of Central-Eastern Europe, now in its fourth year, aims to promote the musical tradition of countries in a region stretching from the Balkans, through Romania and Austria, the Visegrad Group countries, Ukraine and Belarus, to the Baltic states.
Central and Eastern Europe “is an extremely interesting melting pot whose complexity can be discovered through the variety of the presented compositions and artists,” according to organisers.
The main theme of this year's event is music from the former Austro-Hungarian Empire, with a special focus on performers from nations that were once part of Austria-Hungary, such as Poland, Romania and Croatia.
The opening concert on Friday will see the Vienna Symphony Orchestra perform works by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Gustav Mahler and Péter Eötvös under Israeli conductor Omer Meir Wellber.
Spotlight on Ukrainian music
Meanwhile, Ukrainian music and culture will be given special attention at this year's festival, with the premiere performance of Valentin Silvestrov’s Symphony No. 7 by Polish Radio's National Symphony Orchestra under Andrzej Boreyko.
The festival's closing concert, meanwhile, entitled Fusion_Fonia Music of the Ukrainian Land and led by Ukrainian composer Ivan Taranenko, will combine classical, jazz, electronic and folk music from Ukraine.
Overall, the nine-day festival, held by Poland’s National Centre for Culture and the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, is expected to feature more than 600 performers, 13 concerts, five symphony orchestras, seven other ensembles and seven soloists performing at five venues in the Polish capital.
Public broadcaster Polish Radio is a media partner of the event, which runs until November 26.
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(ab/gs)
Source: IAR, eufonie.pl
Click on the "Play" button above for an audio report by Radio Poland’s Agnieszka Bielawska.
