The programme includes Witold Lutosławski’s Little Suite, Krzysztof Penderecki’s Concerto for flute and chamber orchestra (with Łukasz Długosz as the soloist), Valentin Silvestrov’s Prayer for Ukraine, and Mikhail Kalachevsky’s Ukrainian Symphony.
The ensemble is conducted by Poland’s Jurek Dybał.
Valentin Silvestrov, 86, is the greatest living Ukrainian composer. After the Russian invasion, he was forced to flee Ukraine. He currently resides in Berlin.
He wrote Prayer for Ukraine in 2014, inspired by dramatic events taking place in Kyiv’s Maidan square that year.
Dating from 1876, Kalachevsky’s Ukrainian Symphony draws on Ukrainian folk themes. It is considered an interesting example of 19th-century Ukrainian music.
The Nadiia Ukrainian Symphony Orchestra NUSO is an orchestra Ukrainian musicians established for the duration of their residence in Poland. It continues the tradition of the Slobozhansky Youth Academic Symphony Orchestra from Kharkiv.
Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the ensemble could no longer work in its home city. Thanks to support from the Polish Ministry of Culture and National, it found its new artistic home in Poland, performing across the country and on foreign tours.
The concert is part of the 5th Eufonie International Music Festival of Central and Eastern Europe, which runs in Warsaw until November 25.
(mk/gs)