Dear Ladies and Gentlemen,

the 26^th Jan Stanienda Chamber Music Festival “Arsenal Nights” will begin on Friday, June 30^th, and will last until Sunday, July 9^th. Six wonderful “Nights” are ahead of us!

As always, the “Arsenal Nights” lure audiences with an array of great soloists and a very stylistically diverse repertoire. Classics sit alongside ambitious entertainment. The common denominator remains chamber music in its broadest sense, resounding in the charming courtyard of the historic Arsenal. The inauguration of the Festival (Friday, 30 June) will feature Stanisław Soyka accompanied by the Grott Orchestra in a programme entitled “Soul” – the repertoire will include selected compositions by this exceptional artist, both hits such as “Tolerancja” or “Kiedy jesteś taka bliska”, and less popular, but beautiful pieces by the Master. And all this in intimate arrangements, prepared especially for this Night.

The host of the entire Festival is traditionally the Wratislavia Orchestra, which will perform two diverse programmes under the direction of two outstanding concertmasters. The Orchestra’s first concert, filled with Astor Piazzolla’s and Antonio Vivaldi’s famous Seasons of the Year, will be conducted by the excellent violinist Roksana Kwaśnikowska, who will also perform solo parts in both works (Friday, 7 July). The finale of the “Nights” will belong to Daniel Stabrawa. He will perform in the dual role of soloist (in W. A. Mozart’s Violin Concerto in D Major) and conductor. The programme will also include Mozart’s Divertimento and Ludwig van Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4 in G Major, Op. 58, with Hinrich Alpers (Germany) as soloist.

The second festival concert promises to be exceptional, with the appearance of Wojciech Niedziółka – the highest-ranked Polish participant at the last Wieniawski Competition in Poznań. He will be accompanied on the piano by Krzysztof Stanienda, and the programme will include works by Wieniawski, Beethoven and Brahms (Saturday, 1 July).

This year, the “Arsenal Nights” reach for the latest literature: a new composition by Mikołaj Majkusiak for instrumental octet will be commissioned by the Festival (Sunday, 2 July). The inspiration for the use of just such an ensemble (extended by the accordion) will come from Igor Stravinsky’s famous work Soldier’s Tale, performed at the same concert. The composition was written after the horrors of the Great War and is a fable about a soldier who sold his soul to the devil in exchange for a book with prophecies of the future. The role of narrator will be played by Robert Gonera and the event will be conducted by Anna Sułkowska-Migoń.

The programme will include two Nights with music from the borderline of chamber and pop music: in addition to Stanisław Soyka’s opening concert, there will be a presentation of the unusual project “Fado” (Saturday, 8 July) by Bastarda and an invited guest – João de Sousa (guitar, vocals), a Portuguese living in Poland. The musicians drew on the works of classic composers of the genre, above all Alfredo Marceneiro and Alain Oulman, but also Amália Rodrigues. What can be said of all the arrangements, however, is that they are distinguished by their unusual construction – the melody touches on very emotional tones, the vocals and guitar are in the foreground, and the message remains melancholic and mysterious, as befits the spirit of saudade.

All concerts start at 8 pm.

Looking forward to meet you at Jan Stanienda Arsenal Nights!!