Tuesday, February 13, 2024

Kowalski’s Video Premiere: Part Deux

Guitarist Mateusz Kowalski (courtesy of the Omni Foundation)

Almost exactly two months ago, the Omni Foundation for the Performing Arts released a YouTube video of the first half of a recital performed by the young Polish virtuoso guitarist Mateusz Kowalski in October of last year. When I announced that release, I added that it would be followed by the remainder of the program one week later. That turned out to be a very long week!

The long-awaited conclusion of the recital with a second video will be fulfilled this coming Sunday. Readers may recall that one of the features of the first half of the program was a set of three of the five mazurkas from Frédéric Chopin’s Opus 7 collection, arranged by Jan Nepomucen Bobrowicz. The second half of the program included one more Bobrowicz arrangement, this time of the four mazurkas in Chopin’s Opus 6, his first set in this genre. In addition, the program concluded with an original Bobrowicz composition, his own set of variations on the “Là ci darem la mano” duet from Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s K. 527 opera Don Giovanni.

There is also another original composition by Marek Pasieczny, this one given the somewhat cryptic title “(szopen) re:membering.” The opening selections on this half of the program are likely to be more familiar. The program will begin with Roland Dyens’ arrangement of one of Maurice Ravel’s best known piano compositions, the “Pavane pour une infante défunte.” This will be followed by another arrangement of piano music, this time by Emre Sabuncuoğlu for the six short pieces in Béla Bartók’s Romanian Folk Dances collection.

As in the past, this performance will be streamed through the Omni Foundation’s YouTube channel. The video premiere will be live-streamed at 10 a.m. this coming Sunday, February 18. The YouTube Web page for viewing has already been created. There is no charge for admission, which means that these performances are made possible only by the viewers’ donations. A Web page has been created for processing contributions, and any visits made prior to the streaming itself will be most welcome.

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