Polish musicians among winners of International Classical Music Awards
PR dla Zagranicy
Victoria Bieniek
19.01.2018 14:21
A double album featuring the "Quo Vadis" oratorio by Polish composer Feliks Nowowiejski (1887-1946) has received the 2018 International Classical Music Award in the ‘choral works’ category.
National Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra concert hall. Photo:Bartłomiej Barczyk - www.koniorstudio.pl/Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.5)
It is a live recording of a concert given by the Poznań Philharmonic Orchestra and the Choir of the Podlasie Opera and Philharmonic from the eastern city of Białystok in June 2016.
It features four soloists: soprano Wioletta Chodowicz, baritone Robert Gierlach, Wojtek Gierlach on bass and Sławomir Kamiński on organ as the soloists, and conductor Łukasz Borowicz.
The album, which is the world’s first recording of Nowowiejski’s oratorio, was released by the German label cpo. It uses the Polish translation of the original German text, which is adapted from the novel Quo Vadis by Polish Nobel Prize-winning writer Henryk Sienkiewicz.
As a mark of recognition of Polish musical achievements, the jury awarded an Outstanding Young Polish Artist Award to pianist Szymon Nehring, winner of the 2017 Rubinstein Piano Competition in Tel Aviv.
The world-famous Polish pianist Krystian Zimerman received the award in the ‘solo instrument’ category for his latest CD with Schubert sonatas recorded for Deutsche Grammophon, while the conductor Krzysztof Urbański was honoured in the ‘concertos’ category for the recording of Martinu’s Cello Concerto No. 1 with Sol Gabetta and the Berlin Philharmonic released by Sony Classical.
The ‘Special Achievements’ category winners include the Krzysztof Penderecki European Music Centre in Lusławice, southern Poland, and the National Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra in Katowice, whose magnificent concert hall will host the award ceremony and the gala concert on April 6. (mk/vb)