The event will also serve as a tribute to Penderecki, who died five years ago.
Credo is a large-scale oratorio for five soloists, two choirs and orchestra.
Completed in 1998 and originally conceived as a part of a mass cycle, it soon started to be performed as an independent work.
In Rome, the piece will be performed by the orchestra, mixed choir and boys’ choir of the Kraków Philharmonic in southern Poland, along with a lineup of Polish soloists: soprano Iwona Hossa, mezzo-soprano Natalia Rubiś, alto Anna Lubańska, tenor Adam Zdunikowski, and bass Łukasz Konieczny, under the baton of conductor Maciej Tworek.
Elżbieta Penderecka, the composer’s widow, reflected on the significance of the concert in a programme note.
"I remember well that day—April 2, 2005. John Paul II, the Polish Pope, dies. Poland is in shock. In a burst of emotion and driven by a sense of spiritual necessity, Krzysztof, my husband, starts writing Chaconne in memoria del Giovanni Paolo II for strings," she wrote. "The work, which premiered in September of that year, was later included in A Polish Requiem, a monumental piece that, in a sense, documented key events in Polish history through sound."
She also quoted from John Paul II’s 1999 Letter to Artists, written during his pilgrimage to Poland: "Obedient to their inspiration in creating works both worthwhile and beautiful, [artists] not only enrich the cultural heritage of each nation and of all humanity, but they also render an exceptional social service in favour of the common good."
John Paul II served as pope from October 16, 1978 until his death on April 2, 2005.
He was the third longest-serving pontiff in history and was declared a saint in 2014.
Penderecki, a towering figure in contemporary classical music, died on March 29, 2020 at the age of 86.
(mk/gs)