We invite you to the concert inaugurating the new season of the NFM Leopoldinum Orchestra, featuring works by two composers: Mieczysław Weinberg and Mark-Anthony Turnage. The ensemble will be led by Joseph Swensen, while the solo parts will be performed by clarinetist Waldemar Żarów and violinist Daniel Hope.

The evening will begin with a short, lyrical work: Lullaby for Hans by Turnage. Born in 1960, this British composer can boast an extensive list of works, including operas, ballets, orchestral, choral and chamber works. The lullaby that will sound during the concert was a gift from the composer to his mentor, German artist Hans Werner Henze. Weinberg wrote the Concertino for solo violin and strings in 1948. It is accessible, light, cheerful and graceful music with melancholic episodes. This reflects the life of the artist, who was born in Warsaw and spent the first years of his life there, studying at the Warsaw Conservatory in the piano class. His dreams of a career as a piano virtuoso were interrupted by the outbreak of World War II. After escaping from the German occupation, Weinberg ended up in Moscow, where he spent the rest of his life. He assimilated with the local musical environment and celebrated triumphs as a composer. In Poland, his legacy is only being explored now.

The most anticipated part of the concert will be the first Polish performance of Mark-Anthony Turnage's Lament, a composition written in 2018–2019. The artist commemorated his friend, who died shortly before Turnage began work on the piece. The concert will end with the Chamber Symphony No. 4 for Strings and Clarinet op. 153 by Weinberg. It is a piece much later than Concertino, finished in 1992. There is more sadness in this music, also more violence and depth. This work is deeply moving, full of intense emotions, yet communicative and accessible at the same time.