Szalone Dni Muzyki (La Folle Journée de Varsovie) returns in 2024 with a rich and varied selection of 56 concerts over a period of three days. This year’s festival theme is Origins. And a journey to the origins is a fascinating expedition! We will wander towards nature: to the murmur of gushing water and birdsong, but also to ancient ways of human communication – primordial rhythm or traditional calling and singing. We will look at traditional instruments and folk inspirations in both classical music and jazz. We will reach out to the great works of the classical canon, such as Bach’s Goldberg Variations (no. 51), Mozart’s operas (no. 9), the symphonies of Beethoven and Dvořák (nos. 23, 47), Bartók’s Sonata for Two Pianos and Percussion (no. 27), Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue (nos. 32, 53) and Bernstein’s Symphonic Dances from West Side Story (nos. 1, 48, 55). These are “original” works for the cultural formation of modern audiences, and they are an inexhaustible mine of inspiration for subsequent generations, drawing on these sources to the fullest.
As every year, the festival will host a strong representation of world-class artists and foreign ensembles. Already the opening concert (no. 4) will feature saxophonist Valentine Michaud and will immediately transport listeners to the world of birds with her performance of Anders Hillborg’s Peacock Tales concerto. The theme of sky-high trills and chirps in the works of composers – ranging from French harpsichordists to Paul McCartney – will be explored by the artist together with her brother, percussionist Gabriel Michaud, in the chamber program Birds of Paradise (no. 15). Young guitarist Raphaël Feuillâtre revolves in a similar circle of inspiration from Baroque keyboard works. He has based his recital (no. 38) partly on material from his first album, released by the prestigious Deutsche Grammophon, and partly on Iberian and South American music closer to our times. The young Polish harpsichordist Maciej Skrzeczkowski, winner of last year’s Musica Antiqua Competition in Bruges, will also make his debut at the festival. His recital (no. 52), which is also the Polish premiere of his debut album for the prestigious Belgian label Ricercar, will reach back to the origins of the English virginalists’ music.
The award-winning Quatuor Hermès will present Darius Milhaud’s The Creation of the World (no. 20), for which the reference point was jazz and African cosmogonic myths, and will showcase the origins of American music in quartet literature, including Leonard Bernstein’s recently discovered Music for String Quartet (no. 5). Symphonic Dances from the latter’s musical West Side Story will be performed at the festival’s finale by Sinfonia Varsovia under the baton of Julien Masmondet (no. 55), and will be complemented by The Symphony on a French Mountain Air, Op. 25 by Vincent d’Indy, a concert piece with beautiful melodies and rich instrumentation, whose demanding solo piano part will be played by Emmanuel Strosser. This artist, in a trio with pianist Eva Zavaro and clarinetist Raphaël Sévère, will delve into repertoire inspired by the music of Bartók and Stravinsky’s country bands (no. 17). Aaron Copland’s Clarinet Concerto, which refers to the latter’s works, will be heard at Saturday night’s final symphonic event (no. 29), with the aforementioned Raphaël Sévère performing the solo part.
Similarly, folk themes and music of the often very deep past will be present in two programs prepared by François Lazarevitch and his historical instruments ensemble Les Musiciens de Saint-Julien. The thousand-year-old tradition of French bagpipes in their regional and historical varieties will be presented by the leader himself (no. 43), and with the ensemble he will discover the “wild beauty” of Central European music, from the Kurpie region to the Balkans as seen through the eyes of Georg Philipp Telemann (no. 26). In a similar geographic circle of inspiration remain the programs of the Geister Duo piano duet, winners of the prestigious ARD International Music Competition in 2021. Their performance will feature works by Rachmaninoff and Bartók (no. 27) as well as Schumann and Dvořák (no. 54). Concerts (nos. 31, 42) by the colorful Sirba Octet featuring klezmer, Roma, Armenian and Balkan music, as well as piano recitals by Illia Ovcharenko, will complete the sound picture of Central Europe. The Ukrainian pianist has taken on the performance of too little-known music of his native country, works by Levko Revutskyi and Sergey Bortkevich (no. 30), as well as Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7, Op. 92 in Franz Liszt’s transcription for solo piano (No. 47). In addition, jazz pianist Paul Lay returns to the festival to present George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue in his own arrangement for jazz trio (nos. 32, 53).
Jazz and its musical sources will be present in several other concerts featuring Polish performers: Marcin Masecki will present his original History of Jazz 1899–1940, combining music with vivid storytelling (no. 44), Chopin University Big Band under the direction of Piotr Kostrzewa will perform two programs reaching back to big band classics (nos. 50, 56), and Kacper Malisz, a rising star of Polish jazz violin, will unveil the Janus face of the traditional violinist and also leader of the jazz experimental band Suferi in the program Jazz on Oberkas (no. 33).
The sources of humanity beat in Africa, where rhythms – the first forms of human communication – originated. Also, the sources of jazz and popular music beat in the rhythms of the African savannas and equatorial forest. During centuries of movement and resettlement, they have been transformed in the cultures of both Americas. These wanderings will be alluded to in two festival programs: the first (no. 7) performed by Chopin University Percussion Ensemble under the direction of Miłosz Pękala, where American innovator John Cage’s Third Construction and the compositions of the famous performance group STOMP! will be heard alongside traditional West African rhythms and Brazilian batucada. A program by two percussionists Jerzy Rogiewicz and Hubert Zemler (nos. 45, 49) will open wide the door to the clave rhythm, which is the foundation of modern popular music. Audiences of these concerts will have the opportunity to learn variants of clave rhythm and play with them together with the performers.
In the festival program, one of the important ways of music discovery is the educational agenda. For the youngest and slightly older, programs from the much-loved Smykofonia series have been prepared. One focuses on the figure of folklorist Oskar Kolberg and the passion for listening to the sources of music (nos. 10, 13, 16), while the other teaches how distant traditions can come together in common fun (nos. 34, 37, 40). The youngest will also have the opportunity to learn about the orchestra in symphonic programs, with Bazylek (no. 11) and Panakota (no. 36) as guides. Bazylek will search for his fairy-tale ancestors, while Panakota – for the source of the orchestra’s sounds. Visitors will be able to find real treasures at the Instrument Market (nos. 22, 25) while listening to stories about rare traditional instruments – such as the hurdy-gurdy and nyckelharpa – from their builders themselves.
For many years, La Folle Journée has also provided an opportunity for presentations of young people from music schools. This is a unique festival of youth orchestras in the country, organized together with the Centre of Art Education. This year’s edition will feature 8 symphony orchestras, 1 string orchestra and the debut of young dancers from the Roman Turczynowicz Secondary Ballet School in Warsaw (no. 6). To a certain extent, the concert programs of the youth orchestras respond to the festival’s main theme, partly fulfilling the mission of performing Polish music, and partly fulfilling their own educational goals, such as preparing works of the so-called standard orchestra repertoire. Thus, we will hear Antonio Vivaldi’s Four Seasons (nos. 2, 19), fragments of Johann Sebastian Bach’s orchestral suites (nos. 19, 28), symphonies by Joseph Haydn (no. 24) and Antonín Dvořák (nos. 2, 12), the latter’s Slavonic Dances and Hungarian Dances by Johannes Brahms (nos. 8, 21, 28), Edvard Grieg’s Peer Gynt suite (nos. 8, 14), suite from Georges Bizet’s opera Carmen (no. 41), or the ballet suite Swan Lake by Pyotr Tchaikovsky (no. 35), as well as works by Henryk Wieniawski (nos. 14, 19), Stanisław Moniuszko (nos. 3, 14, 39, 46), Henryk Mikołaj Górecki (nos. 8, 14), Wojciech Kilar (nos. 12, 19, 21, 28), Witold Lutosławski (nos. 2, 12) or Andrzej Panufnik (nos. 2, 19).
Among professional orchestras, La Folle Journée will feature Jerzy Semkow Polish Sinfonia Iuventus Orchestra, twice conducted by Alexander Humala (nos. 23, 42), and the Orchestra of the Teatr Wielki – Polish National Opera conducted by Marta Kluczyńska in the Mozart opera program (no. 9) featuring soprano Aleksandra Orłowska and baritone Hubert Zapiór. La Folle Journée organizer – Sinfonia Varsovia – will perform under the baton of Julien Masmondet (nos. 4, 55), Jacek Kaspszyk (no. 18) and Aleksandar Marković (no. 29), and will also take part in two family concerts (nos. 11, 36). Selected Sinfonia Varsovia musicians will also join forces in chamber ensembles, performing alongside the Geister Duo (no. 27), and under their own banner as Sinfonia Varsovia Wind Quintet & Guests (nos. 1, 48).
Traditionally, each of the festival stages will be given a name that refers to the festival’s theme. This time they will be the names of the elements, in which Greek philosophers saw the sources of the reality around them, the original building blocks of the world. Heraclitus believed it was fire, Anaximenes – that it was air, Thales – that it was water, and Anaximander thought it was something that preceded the elements… To the list of elements Empedocles after Xenophanes added earth, and Aristotle after Plato added a fifth element – aether, which medieval alchemists began to call “quintessence”, or literally “the fifth element.” But perhaps this primordial principle of the world is love, which, like music, has the power to change reality for the better?
ABOUT THE FESTIVAL
La Folle Journée (i.e. The Mad Day) is the subtitle of Beaumarchais’s The Marriage of Figaro, the audacious theatre play and undisputed masterpiece of French and international literature that denounces the archaic privileges of French nobility. It is also the very same theatre play that inspired both Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro and René Martin, who has organized numerous concerts of classical music and created a festival that turned the world of classical music upside down, making it accessible to vast audiences.
La Folle Journée was created in France in 1995, and since its beginning has been a true revolution in the world of classical music. At the moment, besides the French and Polish editions, the festival takes place in Japan. The revolutionary concept of La Folle Journée consists in a dizzying number of short concerts in the span of a few days with an appealing repertoire and affordable ticket prices. All of that attracts large crowds of new listeners to the concert halls in a spectacular fashion.
The biggest celebration of classical music in Poland
The Polish edition of the festival was initiated by Sinfonia Varsovia, which has taken part in La Folle Journée in France since its beginnings and participated in its numerous Japanese, Russian, and Spanish renditions. Every year, thousands of people gather in Teatr Wielki – The Polish Opera on the last weekend of September to listen to concerts of their choice from dozens of available events. The festival has gained the reputation of the biggest classical music feast in Poland. Many regular and occasional concertgoers spend the whole year waiting for it. It is the only festival in the country that combines symphonic and chamber concerts performed by the brightest stars of classical music with a broad educational repertoire.