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ARTHUR RUBINSTEIN CENTENARY CONCERT

25th January, 1987 lîîfe,

' X Sunday 25th January 1987 at 7.30 p.m. INSTITUTE FOR POLISH-JEWISH STUDIES, OXFORD

In association with the presents

ARTHUR RUBINSTEIN CENTENARY CONCERT

in the presence of HRH The Princess of Wales

POLISH (First performance in Great Britain) BBC Leader: BELA DEKANY BBC SYMPHONY SINGERS BBC SYMPHONY CHORUS

Mariana Nicolesco soprano Christine Cairns mezzo-soprano Wieslaw Ochman Kurt Rydl H.R.H. THE PRINCESS OF WALES Principal Guest: Mrs. Arthur Rubinstein

Honorary Management: Victor Hochhäuser CHRISTINE CAIRNS was bom in Ayrshire, Scotland. She studied and singing at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow. Whilst at the Academy, she won several major awards. Since then she has enjoyed a very busy concert schedule both at home and abroad, with engagements ranging from recital performances of Elgar's Sea Pictures and the Brahms Alto Rhapsody. She has appeared in at , and at the Edinburgh Festival, which won her great critical acclaim. Recent operatic engagements include Bridget in Colomba by Kenneth Leighton and Cherubino in Mozart's Marriage of Figaro at the Perth Festival. Christine Cairns had a very successful debut in Los Angeles where she gave a performance of Britten's with André Previn. She returns this autumn to work with them in performances of Prokofiev's Alexander Nevsky and Handel's and, next season, she makes her debut in Paris with the Ensemble Intercontemporain.

MARIANA NICOLESCO. Among today's most highly acclaimed young leading sopranos, Rumanian bom Mariana Nicolesco has won renown for her performances at the world’s leading opera houses, including the in New York. La Scala in Milan, the Teatro La Fenice in Venice, the Lyric Opera in Chicago and the opera houses of Hamburg, Munich, Barcelona and Florence. Her vast repertory includes the roles of Desdemona, Leonora. Mimi, Liu, Violetta, Marguerite, Manon, Tatiana. Donna Elvira as well as the great bel canto roles such as , and . As well as the classic lyric repertory, which she has sung in all five continents, Miss Nicolesco took part in the world premiere of 's La Vera Storia at La Scala in 1982. Amongst performances in 1986 have been Penderecki’s Requiem at the in New York and in Boston, Berio’s Un Re in Ascolto at the Scala conducted by Maazel, Ravel’s in concerts at the Musikverein in and with Munich Opera, and further performances of with the Metropolitan Opera.

KRZYSZTOF PENDERECKI, one of 's Bologna, Venice, and at the festivals of Bergen, WIESLAW OCHMAN has performed in all great opera houses of the foremost living composers and one of the most Flanders, Florence, Goteborg, Helsinki, Moscow and world including the Metropolitan Opera in New York, La Scala in Milan, dynamic creative musicians of his generation is also a Warsaw. Bolshoi in Moscow, Great Theatre in Warsaw, Opera Houses in Hamburg. celebrated conductor. His Symphony No. 2, written at Bom in Debica, Poland, in 1933, Krzysztof Paris, , Vienna, Festivals in Salzburg and Orange. He has sung in the request ofZubin Mehta and dedicated to him, was Penderecki studied composition at the State College of concerts with the Berlin and Vienna Philharmonic and in the given its world premiere by the New York Music in Cracow. He graduated with honours in 1958 in . He has recorded for Polskie Nagrania, Muza- Philharmonic in 1980. Many of his works reflect the and, since 1972, has held the position of rector of the Veriton, Polydor International DGG, EMI. under Karl Bohm, Herbert von tragic and heroic events of history and Mr. Penderecki Music Academy in Cracow. He studied composition Karajan. Eugen Jochum, Claudio Abbado, Rafael Kubelik and others. has been called "the musical personification of with F. Skolyszeswski, A. Malawski, and S. He has taken part in films for television and has frequently recorded for Poland". Krzysztof Penderecki frequently conducts Wiechowicz. In 1959, he rose to prominence virtually radio. His repertoire covers operatic, and . performances of his compositions world-wide and, overnight when he was awarded the three top prizes during the past four years, has appeared with the in the Youth Circle of the Association of Polish , Gewandhaus Orchestra of Composers competition for his for string Leipzig, Orchestre de Paris. Munich Philharmonic, orchestra, Strophes for soprano, narrator, and ten Symphony Orchestra of the Bavarian Radio, and the instruments, and Psalms of David for chorus and KURT RYDL was bom in Vienna in 1947 and studied singing in Vienna BBC Symphony Orchestra. Other guest conducting percussion. His vast artistic output includes , and Moscow. In 1971, he won first prize in the Vinas Competition in engagements included appearances in Palermo, concertos, cantatas, and chamber music. Barcelona and, in 1972, was the second prizewinner in the Grand Prix du Chant in Paris. Since his first engagement in Linz in 1972, he has appeared at many of the world's leading Festivals, including Bayreuth, Lyon and Salzburg. He has appeared under the of Bernstein, Bohm, Dohnanyi, Karajan, Maazel, Sawallisch, Solti, Muti, Sinopoli and others in most ofthe famous opera houses of Europe and the United States. He has also made recordings with these conductors. His repertoire includes over 60 major roles sung in Italian, French, Russian and German, in 40 of which he has appeared at the . as that of his earlier works. This is not to suggest that he Kennedy Center concerts of 1983, in celebration of turned his back on his earlier style: there are elements of it in Penderecki's 50th birthday. The "Agnus Dei. Quid sum KRZYSZTOF PENDERECKI (b. 1933) several of his recent works, though the overall character is miser. Rex tremendae, Recordare, Ingemisco, Preces meae, more in keeping with the change described here, and this is Confutatis and Lacrimosa were performed on that occasion. true of the in particular. The world premiere of the completed work, now POLISH REQUIEM Having made himself a national symbol in his personal comprising 14 sections, was given in on and musical outspokenness, Penderecki acknowledges that September 28. 1984. religious and political feelings have played a part in (At the time of the Stuttgart premiere Penderecki told an stimulating his creative energies, but he maintains that they interviewer why he h?d chosen Stugttgart for the event. He have been less important than certain broader moral and had earlier accepted a commission from the Württemberg philosophical considerations. Several years ago he declared; State Opera and the Stuttgart Radio Orchestra for an opera "1 am a Catholic, but membership in a given church is not onjarry's UbuRoi-. it was something he genuinely wanted to really the point; it is rather that 1 am very much concerned do, but for some reason he simply could not get started. with these topics... in an essential moral and social way, not When he conceived the Polish Requiem, he offered its in either a political or a sectarian religious way". premiere to Stuttgart in lieu of the opera, and extended the This outlook is an amplification of Penderecki's identity as option on Ubu Roi as well. "I agreed the more readily", he a Polish composer unrestricted by any narrow interpretation said, "because I had complete faith in Stuttgart and even, I of “nationalism", and it is not in conflict with his religious suppose, a warm spot in my heart, for it was there that the convictions. "I have always been a religious person", he failure, two days earlier in Hamburg, of my Devils of Loudun says. "Two-thirds of my earlier works are religious, and had been redeemed by a magnificent and triumphal Requiem (Lento) and (Lento molto) production, there that the first European performance of very fashionable. I feel it is especially important to have s radise Lost had been staged, and there that festivals of Rex tremendae (Adagio meno mosso) affirmation now, and I am happy that now many Polish I music had been organised ...") Dies Irae (Vivo) composers are writing sacred and Biblical-inspired must Of the 14 sections of the completed work, the first five - Mirum (Maestoso) Recordare, Jesu pie (Lento - Maestoso) What I predicted in my music has been fulfilled now; th; aetemam, Kyrie, Dies irae, Tuba mirum. Mors Mors stupebit (Maestoso - Vivo) Ingemisco tanquam reus (Allegro assai) church has never been so strong in our history. I feel, tc nd the last three Lux aetema, , Finale Quid sum miser (Andante) Lacrimosa (Lento) that the listener need not be a Catholic, or even a religious posed in 1984. (Even now, after producing what agards as the "definitive version" of the Polish Agnus Dei after all, is a personal expression, and the form is wha . Penderecki advises that he is considering a further composer selects to convey his thoughts and feelings" n the form of a long orchestral Adagio to follow the Lux Aetema (Lento) The (1981) stands apart from Pend unaccompanied Agnus Dei.) Ubera me, Domine (Lento espressivo con sostenuto - Vivace - Allegro assai) I of further specific memorials, it may be noted that shows the new t; rdare for solo quartet, chorus and orchestra is Finale (Recitativo - Lento) that he had by th memory of Father , the compositions; in the second place, o in 1941 gave his own life for that of ascension of the first Polish Pope (] r at Auschwitz. In this section Penderecki Penderecki had known for years as Karol Wojtyla. Cardinal of the old Polish hymn Swiety Boze (Holy God). Certain composers embodied in their music a national with texts in the same Old Church Slavonic used byjanacek and Archbishop of Krakow), it has a national as utthatthi ' "> not used in the same way spirit beyond ordinary concepts of patriotism or pronounced in his , celebrated the entombment and sacred significance, as confirmed by the insertio the battle hymn cil e Deum. but “is m< reliance on folk material, by making their personal resurrection of Christ. , for chorus, soloists and from an ancient Polish hymn betw af cantus firm part of the musical utterances inseparable from their national identity. orchestra, uses words by ancient Greek writers. Galileo, and text. The Polish quotati Penderecki has become a chronicler ofthe Polish spirit, and American and Soviet space flyers, to celebrate man's own both sacred and 'endere in none of his works has this been more profoundly or more loftier ambitions and his capacities for realizing them. In the work, f dramatically apparent than in the Polish Requiem, which Te Deum (1979), written and performed for the first Polish during the last 4 . f Auschwitz, the opening occupied him from 1980 to 1984. Pope, and the Polish Requiem Penderecki brought religious very turbulent time in our history". Some ofth From his earliest phase, Penderecki has expressed in his and national feelings together in a highly personal and vastly memorials to specific individuals i iversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising of 1944. It is one music concern with what has come to be called "the human impactive way. during that period. omposed last, and one in which the brass condition", reacting to events in his own land in his own It has become almost obligatory to note that Penderecki's Like the Te Deum, the Requiem are especially prominent. time, and to others removed in time and place, which style underwent certain changes in the 1970s. In the Fifties Penderecki felt he simply I there is neither an Offertorium nor a represent the sufferings, the aspirations, the triumphs and and Sixties it was his daring use of original devices that In this case his motivation ’enderecki advises that he took his defeats, the frustration and sublimity that shape our world. attracted attention. While he wrote for electronic instruments actaufly missions i da requiem and also from Biblical His Threnody: To the Victims ofHiroshima, for 52 strings, 11 want to say. I don't like was composed in 1960 as a memorial on the 15th saw, chains, bits of railroad track, etc. — he relied in the main the -, th e for it in the Requiem. anniversary of the first use of the atomic bomb. In 1967 he be composed This is not a ve . ifa Requiem, but it is the produced his Dies Irae. known informally as the Auschwitz (including the human voice) to achieve his striking effects. Poland. way I feel it. Toward the end there must be an element of Oratorio, which, in fact, began what we might call He showed a marked fascination with the extreme tonal hope. 1 don't like to finish with the words of the Requiem Penderecki s Polish Chronicles, for it is the Polish town of ranges of voices and instruments, and there are aleatoric according to Penderecki." alone. There must be a sense of hope, of resurrection in Oswiedm that, by its German name, became a synonym for sections in several of his works. Exaggerated vibrato, Walesa to commemorate the people killed i both sense: a resurrection of our freedom, our outrages against humanity on the most horrific scale. shouting, hooting, hissing, playing with a string bow on the uprising of 1970" on the tenth anniversary independence, as well as a personal-spiritual resurrection". rim of a , and other unorthodox devices became annivt marked And so, following the Libera me - another section rich in Auschwitz. Penderecki composed his first large-scale familiar parts of his music. brass and percussion - Penderecki has devised a sort of masterwork, the St. Luke Passion (Münster 1966). which In the 50s and 60s, too, all of his orchestral and Lacrimosa was performe postlude, the Finale in which we hear fragments from earlier established him as a major factor in our musical life. Several instrumental works were brief ones. It was only with the After the Lacrimosa, Pend portions of the work - including the Polish hymn - by way of his subsequent works were in liturgical format or of First Symphony, completed in 1973, that he began writing Dei. for a cappetla chorus, "after th of a very personal sort of summing-up. The Hebrew Biblical derivation - a , a Te Deum, the orchestral in larger instrumental forms, and this led to a corresponding friend Cardinal (Stefan) Wyszynski, Faddish, the prayer recited byJews in memory of the dead, Jacob 's Dream, a setting of The Song ofSolomon - but there expansiveness in his musical outlook. The important figures in postwar Polish history, makes no reference to death, but praises God as the Author were other ways of commenting on the human condition, composed for Isaac Stem in 1976 is an outgoing, largely leading spiritual figure in our recent history of life; death is acknowledged in the Polish Requiem, but by and on its serene, idealistic and even humorous aspects as Romantic work, and so is the aforementioned Paradise Lost, Wyszynski died on March 28. 1982-, the Ag Penderecki's design the last word sung is "vitam” - "life". well as tragic ones. The opera The Devils of Loudun which actually shares some common material with the perfotmed at his funeral in Warsaw, and i (Hamburg. 1969), based on John Whitings dramatisation of Concerto. Like several other established avant-guardists. RICHARD FREED Aldous Huxley s book, found an endearing contrast in Penderecki turned back to a simpler and more direct Paradise Lost (Chicago. 1978). an opera Penderecki expression, related directly to the Romantic style of an designated a "rappresentazione", based on Milton. ULtrenJa, earlier era, yet in a language as individual and contemporary The Institute for Polish-Jewish Studies

Modern Jewish civilisation is international basis; essentially grounded in the - make the results of this research available to the history and culture of‘Polish public by means of lectures, seminars, Jewry’, by which we mean conferences, publications and documentary films; the Ashkenzic communities - focus the attention of European and American of Poland and her historic public on what is most significant and precious in Eastern provinces: the legacy of Polish Jewry. Lithuania, Byelorussia and The activities the Oxford Institute have already the Ukraine. During the undertaken towards achieving these goals include: millenium preceding the - the British premiere of Claude Lanzmann’s Shoah Holocaust and World War II at Oxford, followed by an international conference these communities on the Holocaust, attended by scholars from developed a unique Yiddish America and Europe, including Israel and Poland culture and gave rise to powerful religious and political (September 1985); movements which continue to shape Jewish identity - a book on the history and culture of Polish Jews, worldwide and influence European and American entitled TheJews in Poland, based on the social, cultural and political life. proceedings of the 1984 Oxford conference For centuries the Jews in Poland formed the largest (Blackwells, 1986); and most creative Jewish community in the world. By - an internationaljournal POLIN: AJournal ofPolish- the end of the 18th century when Russia, Prussia and Jewish Studies (Blackwells, Volume 1, Autumn Austria divided the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, 1986) ; some 75% of world Jewry lived within its borders. In - providing scholars from Israel, Poland, Hungary the 19th century, some Polish-Jewish communities, and elsewhere with facilities enabling them to on the Russian occupied territories of Poland, gave come to Oxford to study Polish-Jewish topics (in birth to a new cultural entity: ‘Russian Jewry’, some association with St. Anne's College, Oxford); initiated the mass emigration Westward, becoming - grants to students and scholars from the the core of West European and American Jewry, the Jagiellonian University, Cracow, to study in Israel majority, however, continued their life along and vice-versa (in association with the Hebrew traditional lines. These were the Polish-Jewish University of ); communities constituting the seedbed for such - the annual Emmanuel Ringelblum Memorial intellectual movements as various strands of rabbinic Lectures at Oxford devoted to Holocaust studies; and hasidic Judaism, Jewish secularism, socialism and - collecting funds to aid the work of the Citizens Zionism. On the eve of World War II Polish Jewry was Committee for the Protection ofjewish Cemeteries still the second largest Jewish community in the and Cultural Monuments in Poland; world. - co-organising with the Spiro Institute for Jewish Between 1939-45, the 3.5 million Jewish History and Culture, in London, a festival of Polish community of Poland was almost totally annihilated films featuring Jewish themes (from January by the Nazis. This makes it an obligation of us all that 1987) ; the centuries long history of this community is now - co-organising with the Hebrew University of probed and studied. This obligation is even more Jerusalem and Yad Vashem an international pressing when we take into account the fact that the conference on Polish-Jewish Studies, planned to overwhelming majority ofjews today have their roots take place in Jerusalem in 1988; in Polish Jewry. - organising and sponsoring the Arthur Rubinstein The Institute for Polish-Jewish Studies at Oxford, Centenary Celebration in the Royal Festival Hall, which emerged out of the International Conference on London, on Sunday, 25 January 1987. Polish-Jewish Studies held at Oxford in September The Institute works closely with its sister bodY. the 1984, was established to: American Foundation for Polish-Jewish Studies with - preserve the unique heritage of Polish Jewry; its headquarters in Boston and is associated with the - foster research into the history and culture of Oxford Centre for Postgraduate Hebrew Studies. Polish Jewry on an interdisciplinary and BBC SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA. The foundation of the BBC Symphony Orchestra in 1930 was a landmark in the history of British Orchestras. As the first orchestra to employ musicians on full-time contracts, it was able to set new standards of vir­ tuosity in British orchestral playing. Today, with 111 members on permanent contract, the BBC Symphony Orchestra has re­ established its position as the largest symphony orchestra in Britain. An adventurous programming policy was a unique aspect of the Orchestra's early days and resulted in collaboration with many of this century’s most prominent composers, among them Stravinsky, Bartok, Schoenberg, Prokofiev, Falla, Hindemith and Strauss. The artistic policy remains constant in the 1980s, and the Orchestra continues to work regularly with leading inter­ national composers, most recently with Stockhausen, Boulez, Tippett, Lutoslawski and Berio. While it is renowned for its achievements in twentieth-century and contemporary music, the Orchestra has an extensive repertoire and is also especially noted for its performances of large-scale Romantic works. The BBC Symphony Orchestra has worked under many great conductors, including Boult (its founder conductor), Toscanini, Walter, Ansermet, Koussevitzky and Weingartner. Chief Conductors in recent years have included Boulez, Kempe and Rozhdestvensky. Sir John Pritchard, the present Chief Conductor, took up his appointment in 1982, as did Chief Guest Conduc­ tor Gunter Wand; in October 1985 and Peter Eotvos joined the Orchestra as Principal Guest Conductors. The Orchestra is based in London, where its studio recordings for BBC Radio 3 — often of unusual or rarely performed works - are a vital aspect of its contribution to music-making in Britain. The Orchestra gives regular public performances at the Royal Festival Hall and Barbican; highlights of the 1985/86 season on the South Bank included Sir ’s The Mask of Time and the British première of scenes from Messiaen’s opera St. François d'Assise, and, at the Barbican, a complete cycle of the Brahms with Sir John Pritchard. The Orchestra takes a large part in the Promenade Concerts at the Royal Albert Hall each summer. This year, highlights of a typically demanding season included - in addition to the First and Last Nights - Berlioz's Grande messe des morts with Sir John Pritchard; Bruckner’s Fifth Symphony with Gunter Wand; Dal­ lapiccola’s opera II prigioniero conducted by David Atherton; and Jonathan Harvey’s Proms 86 commission, Madonna of Winter and Spring for orchestra and live electronics, conducted by Peter Eotvos. Outside London, the BBC Symphony Orchestra makes frequent visits to festivals and arts centres throughout Britain; last season these included a return visit to the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival with a programme devoted to music by Luciano Berio conducted by the composer, and two concerts at the Brighton Festival with Ronald Zollman and . Last month the orchestra travelled to the Edinburgh Festival with Sir John Pritchard for a programme of Beethoven and , and it returns to the Huddersfield Festival in November for an all-Lutoslawski concert under the com­ poser’s direction. Next year will see a return visit to the Brighton Festival and appearances at the Bath and Chichester Festivals.

BBC SINGERS. Since their formation in 1924 the BBC Singers have established themselves through regular broadcasts and public concerts as one of the world’s leading vocal ensembles. The only full-time professional concert in Britain, the BBC Singers make over one hundred programmes for radio each year; with a permanent strength of twenty-eight, augmented and divided as required, they undertake an enormously varied and demanding reportoire. Last year they collaborated with Karl­ heinz Stockhausen in the BBC's ‘Music and Machines’ festival at the Barbican, and with Luciano Berio, under whose direction they performed Coro at the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival. During 1985 the Singers also participated in the South­ ampton International New Music Week, performing new works by and , and as part of a tour of the North they appeared at Durham Cathedral in a programme which included the première ofJohn Casken's To Selds we do not know. During the 1985/86 season the BBC Singers took part in a number of concerts with the BBC Symphony Orchestra at the South Bank, performing works by Schubert, Tippett, Stravinsky and Berlioz. In March they sang in the British première of scenes from Messiaen's opera St. François d'Assise, a performance they repeated twice in April in Berlin with and the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. Each year the BBC Singers make an important contribution to the Henry Wood Promenade Concerts; this season their seven appearances have included music spanning four centuries, from the Florentine Intermedi of 1589 to Dallapiccola and Giles Swayne. They have just returned from a visit to Frankfurt as part of a large choir under Sir . Future plans include further visits to Germany with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra in celebration of Hans Werner Henze’s sixtieth birthday, and separate visits to France by two different groups of the Singers in November. In London the BBC Singers will make three appearances in the London 's Britten/Tippett Festival, including an a cap­ pella concert on 7 October at St. John’s Smith Square.

BBC SYMPHONY CHORUS. The BBC Symphony Chorus has enjoyed a long and distinguished career since its foundation by the BBC in 1928 as the 'National Chorus’. Renamed the BBC Chorus in 1932, the BBC Society in 1977, the BBC’s non-professional choir has the most adventurous repertoire of any large choral group in this country. In addition to the choral classics, the chorus undertook challenging contemporary works from its earliest days. Aptly, its debut appearance at the Queen’s Hall featured the first performance of Bantock’s The Pilgrim's Progress, and there followed premières of choral works by many British composers, among them Bliss, Walton, Vaughan Williams, Berkeley and Britten. Music from the Continent was not ignored, either. Works by Hindemith, Busoni and Stravinsky received their British premières in the 1930s; later Penderecki’s St. Luke Passion and Messiaen’s La transfiguration de Notre Seigneur Jésus-Christ received their first British performances. Recent Proms seasons have included the European premières of Sessions's When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd and Tippett's The Mask of Time, which was repeated with great success at the Royal Festival Hall in March. The same month the chorus participated in the British première of scenes from Messiaen’s opera St. François d'Assise, and travelled to Germany for further performances of the work with the Berlin Philharmonic and Seiji Ozawa. Many distinguished conductors have worked with the BBC Symphony Chorus. Toscanini and Ansermet visited from abroad, and there were frequent appearances with Sir and Sir . As the BBC Symphony Orchestra’s chief conductors changed, each bringing his own particular repertoire, the choir’s versatility was effectively displayed. Under Sir the chorus performed Berlioz and recorded commercially Tippett’s A Child of our Time-, 's arrival brought performances of Schoenberg’s Gurrelieder; and last season at the Royal Festival Hall, with current Chief Conductor Sir John Pritchard, the chorus performed works by Bruckner, Mahler and Rossini. At this summer the BBC Symphony Chorus has performed in Berlioz’s Grande messe des morts with Sir John, and Mahler’s Eighth Symphony under on the Opening Night of the Proms. Plans include Britten’s at the Royal Albert Hall on 28 September, and his Spring Symphony at the Royal Festival Hall in October, both in the ’s Britten/Tippett Festival. Appearances in the BBC Symphony Orchestra’s new season will include music by Dvorâk, Mahler, Szymanowski and Ligeti. THE MAGICIAN WHO DEFIES DESCRIPTION ARTHUR RUBINSTEIN

(bom Lodz, Poland 28 January 1887; died Geneva 22 December 1982)

An Appreciation by Czeslaw Halski

TRIBUTE TO ARTHUR RUBINSTEIN His art was unique. Not so much the perfect people. These qualities made him an inimitable technical apparatus nor the marvellous player of Chopin’s music. mechanism of a virtuoso, but a great soul of Artists of Arthur Rubinstein's calibre are a rare prodigious intellectual power and love of life. His phenomenon. His reputation for beauty was playing was a thing never to be forgotten, or unique, his touch was both musically brilliant 10.00 a.m. - 1.00 p.m. Royal Festival Hall approached by later artists. The peculiar quiet and technically dazzling. Endowed with a rare Open Rehearsal with Krzysztof Penderecki brilliance of his rapid passages and the noble gift, he was able to hold in his hands the soul of balance maintained between parts, the meaning Poland and Israel, both courageous, both 3.00 p.m. Parcell Room and effect which he put into his music were the sorrowful. most striking and unforgettable points. His Polish and Jewish inheritance which François-René Duchable piano recital His manual achievements depended not on irradiated his face furnished his art with an force, though he was not deficient in it, but on almost savage passion and search for melodic 3.00 p.m. Qaeen Elizabeth Hall gradation of tone .and the incomparable art of beauty. But grandiose critical terms, such as Guameri String Quartet singing on the keyboard. His well-developed "transcendental technique", "evocative magic", legato enabled him to produce melodic effects "titanic power" and other fanfaronades worn 5.00 p.m. Waterloo Room unheard before and his puzzling art of sustaining threadbare by indiscriminate use, fail to do them Documentary films featuring pedal made it possible to render the smoothly, while both his hands were free to give Was he a Pole or a Jew? Bom in the second Arthur Rubinstein the rushing scales, produce brilliant arpeggios largest city of Poland in a Jewish family, he was a and other sparkling passages with which he Pole and a Jew in one person. For him this 6.00-7.15 p.m. In the Foyer loved to surround his . combination was natural and it was majestic at Duo-Art Pianola recordings of When playing works by old masters, he never the same time. Arthur Rubinstein presented by Rex Lawson tried to modernise them. On the contrary, he As an exponent of Chopin he was supreme, brushed off the dust of tradition, trying to restore for in Chopin's works he could see the Poland he 6.15 p.m. Royal Festival Hall their youth, to present them as they sounded loved with his passionate heart. when they first sprang from under the pen of the I had the honour and pleasure to interview him Krzysztof Penderecki in conversation with composer. several times for the Polish Section of the BBC. Paul Patterson about his life and works The Spaniards and South-Americans adored He was a famous raconteur and almost every his playing of Spanish music, the Germans his sentence he uttered betrayed his passionate love 7.30 p.m. Royal Festival Hall rendering of the classical masters, the Poles, but of life, deepened by partial blindness in extreme Polish Requiem by Krzysztof Penderecki not only the Poles, acclaimed him as the old age. His thoughts of music remained fresh supreme master of Chopin. and unaltered to the end. It had probably never occurred to him to I should like to close my tribute with words I descend to the level of popular taste. He wanted wrote in a London Polish paper after one of his and was able, as few musicians before him, to concerts: "The playing of Rubinstein is raise the audience to his own plane. unrepeatable, as unrepeatable as he himself as a Beneath his fingers the shortest Mazurka told man and a musician, one of God's anointed Sunday 25th January 1987 the whole tragic history of his native country - artists in the rarest group of the top pianists of the Poland. Unerringly, he realised the pride, swaggering nobility and hidden sadness of his Fantaisie-Impromptu in C sharp minor, (1810 - 1856) PROGRAMME NOTES ®by Eric Mason Opus 66 Fantasiestiicke, Opus 12 The name Impromptu sometimes indicates a small-scale During the summer of 1837. when it looked as ifhis love piece which makes the suggestion of being improvised, but for Clara Wieck was to be forever thwarted by her father's this famous piece, which dates from 1834, is altogether opposition. Schumann spent several weeks in the pleasing grander than that, hence the expanded title. The fast outer company of a beautiful 18-year-old Scottish pianist, Anna sections display the drive and showy brilliance typical of Robena Laidlaw. He dedicated to her these eight FREDERIC CHOPIN (1810 - 1849) Chopin s early Paris years. The lilting tune of the contrasting Fantasiestiicke (Fantasy Pieces), which he had composed lyrical episode is so catchy that it was once turned into a pop between May and early July, and she, perhaps by way of Fantasy in F minor. Opus 49 song to words that begin: "Weep no more, don't cry, my thanks, gave him a lock of her hair when she departed. The pieces have titles which Schumann said were suggested to him afterwards by the music. The first. Des Chopin's life in Parisian salons during the winter months Mazurka in F sharp minor, Opus 6, No. 1 Abends (At Evening), is marked 'very inward’ and allowed little time for composition. From 1839 to 1846. characterised musically by cross rhythms and enharmonic however, he spent the summers on George Sand's estate at Mazurka in B flat, Opus 7, No. 1 key shifts. Aufcchwung (Soaring) is a kind of rondo with a Nohant, and it was there that he composed the Fantasy in F Mazurka in B minor, Opus 30, No. 2 feeling of elation. Warum? (Why?), based on a single theme, minor in 1841. This work, one of his major achievements, makes a poetic contrast. Crillen (Whims) is livelier and shows him writing with perfect assurance in an extended The mazurka takes its name from the Mazurs, the people displays an audibly capricious nature. In derNacht (In the musical form of his own invention. His linking of themes is of the plains of Mazovia around Warsaw. Generally less Night) has a passionate impulsion in its undulating motion, cause to marvel, and the themes themselves are musically strenuous and more graceful than the polonaise, it is a and Schumann made the happy discovery after he had interesting quite apart from any emotional impact they triple-time dance of repeated encounter and separation that finished it that it suggested to him Leander swimming make. As for this last quality, the Fantasy discloses the Liszt after a visit to Poland described as "haughty yet tender through the sea to the arms of his waiting beloved, Hero. passionate aspect of the composer's nature. and alluring'. To Chopin the mazurka was a comparatively Fabel (Fable) has a slow refrain for the storyteller and presto It opens with a rhythmic figure in the bass and a response intimate medium in which he could reflect with for the tale he tells. Traumes-Wirren (Maze of in the treble. The continuation, a more extended reflective extraordinary variety not only the homelier aspects of the Dreams) is in ternary form, the outer sections a feverish melody, breaks finally into florid runs, and these in turn lead Polish life and spirit but in later years some of his own whirl, the middle section slower yet equally restless The into a very characteristic theme of passionate potential. A deepest thoughts. reprise of the fast music starts in the wrong key but march and ornate peroration complete the section. After an Over a quarter of a century he composed more than 50 eventually finds the right one. Ende vom Lied (End of the FRANÇOIS-RENÉ DUCHABLE. Bom in April 1952, inward central episode of a kind one associates more with mazurkas. The Opus 6 and Opus 7 sets, nine pieces in all, Song) is ultimately sad. Towards the end. as Schumann told François-René Duchable began studying music at the Schumann, the Fantasy ends with a varied reprise of the were the first to be published, though not the first mazurkas Clara, he imagined the gaiety of a wedding, but then the age of four and completed his education at the first section's main elements. he wrote. They were composed during 1830- 31, that time sorrow surrounding her returned and the death knell Conservatoire National Supérieure de Musique in of transition when he was bidding farewell to his native land sounded with the wedding bells. The descending motive Paris. and travelling by a circuitous route to Paris, which claimed that Schumann often used to represent Clara appears in the In 1968, he was a prize winner in the Queen him for the rest ofhis life. The four Opus 30 mazurkas were composed there in 1836 - 37 and published in the latter Elizabeth of Belgium International Music Competition year with a dedication to the Princess of Württemberg. and in 1973 of the Sasha Schneider Foundation. It (1833 - 1897) was at that point that his critical acclaim brought him Variations on a Theme by Paganini (Book to the attention of Arthur Rubinstein and, from that Etude in B minor, Opus 25, No. 10 Two), Opus 35 moment, he received the invaluable encouragement Etude in A minor, Opus 25, No. 11 from the Maestro. It was thanks to him, that François- That jagged little theme of Paganini s last Caprice for sole René Duchable obtained his first international Etude in C minor. Opus 25, No. 12 violin. No. 24 in A minor engagements, eventually choosing his course of Chopin built up his second collection of 12 studies composers with interpretation. between 1832 and 1836 and dedicated it to Liszt’s mistress, it up in 1862 an Since then, he has travelled extensively in the the Countess d'Agoult, at whose house in the autumn of studies, since United States, Canada, Japan, Europe and, of course, 1836 he first met George Sand. We hear the three big minor­ ionally exploit th aspects of vi in France, where he has played with the Orchestre key studies that conclude the set. No. 10 embraces stormy National de France. He has also been invited to many octaves in its outer sections, which contrast with a lyrical central episode. Stormy is the word also for No. 11. which is of the major Festivals, including Salzburg, Lucerne, d and third variations Berlin, Prades, etc. known as the Winter Wind study, and No. 12 demands Polonaise in A flat, Opus 53 similar pianistic resources to encompass its fiery bravura. lighter, leading iceful, typically Under the baton of such conductors as von Karajan, z in A major for the fourth. Paganini’s Sawallisch, Dutoit, von Dohnanyi etc., François-René trie seems to influence variations five and Duchable has appeared with many of the world's polonaise, which originated as a folk measure but also has a long history as a stately court dance. Its music can therefore six. The light, flying figures of No. 7 are a study in combining leading orchestras, such as the Berlin Philharmonic, sound earthy and vigorous or proud and aristocratic or even 3/8 time in the left hand with 2/4 in the right. No. 8 imitates the Pittsburg, the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the suggest a mixture of all these qualities. Chopin, who never Paganini's high violin harmonics and left-hand pizzicato. Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, the Montreal forgot his Polish origins or lost his sympathy with the Polish The next two variations are heavyweights. No. 10 Symphony Orchestra, the NHK Symphony Orchestra people's aspirations, produced some of his most punctuating sonorous three-note phrases with rapid and the Orchestra of the Suisse Romande. arpeggios. Variation 11 provides a scampering contrast. No. quintessential music in this form. His first polonaise was 12 in F major, the only variation not in A minor or major, In 1981 he was awarded Le Grand Prix de composed and published when he was only seven years INTERVAL makes a broad, romantic effect in 6/8 time. The descending L'Academie Charles Cros for his recording of the old, and he returned to the form again and again throughout scales of No. 13 offer a calm prelude to the finale, which works of Chopin and in 1986, he received the Grand his life. generously combines three exhilarating variations in one. prix de L'Academie du Disque Français for the Except for the Polonaise-Fantaisie (1846) the heroic complete concert works of . He has Polonaise in A flat, composed in 1842, is the grand culmination of this series. It begins and ends with a made twenty recordings, five of which have been combination of patriotic pride and exultant energy as if awarded the Diapason d'Or. remembering and celebrating glorious deeds of heroism, Through his many television appearances in Paris, while the middle section is a victorious gallop. Liszt told one he is known to a very wide audience in France and of his pupils at this point: "1 want to hear the hooves of the abroad. Polish cavalry'' BBC Symphony Orchestra

1st Contra Bela Dekany - Leader Timothy Hugh! David Chatterton Vivien Dixon* Ferenc Szucs! Homs Audrey Brett Marie Strom Alan Civil! Ruth Ben-Nathan Janice Brodie Andrew Paterson Regan Crowley Charles Martin Peter Francomb Russell Dawson Peter Freyhan Christopher Newport Sarah Hedley Miller Edwin Dodd Anthony Randall Imogen East Mark Sheridan Alison Orr Hughes Jane Foottit Madeline Thomer George Hallam Marc Bonetti Jan Kaznowski Gareth Bimson! Andrew Price Basses Norman Burgess Charles Renwick Donald Walker! Andrew Hendrie Godfrey Herman David Edwards William Morley Christopher Bearman Patrick Lannigan Michael Clarke John Crawford Christopher Mowat! Marian Gulbicki Anthony Parsons! 2nd Violins Helen Rowlands David Purser Arthur Price! Kenneth Knussen Frances Barlow Martin Gregg Bass Daniel Meyer Robin Turner Anthony Cleveland Gwendoline Gale David Buttf Tuba James Gourlay Hanna Gmitruk Richard Stagg Keith Gurry Anna Noakes Philip Lee John Chimes! Julie Monument Piccolo David Stirling! Michael Schofield Henry Messant Percussion Mark Walton Terence Emery! Patrick Wastnage David Johnson! Katherine Wilson Mark Howells Kevin Nutty John Davies Julia Girdwood Josephine Lively Peter Greenham Charles Fullbrook Steven BumardJ Benedict Hoffnung Eric Sargon Colin Bradbury! Librarians Norman Kent Donald Watson Tim Alps Michael Duffield Roger Fallows! Deborah Bennett David Melliard Barrie Townsend Bass Orchestral Attendants Gerald Manning Anthony Jennings Aziz Khan Philip D’Arcy Donald McKay David Lloyd Robert Turner Geoffrey Gamboldf ! Principal Catherine Musker Susan Frankel ! Co Principal Aileen Morrison Graham Sheen! * Guest Principal

Printed by FREEDMAN BROS. (PRINTERS) LTD. St. Albans Lane, Golders Green London NW11 7QB Telephone: 01-458 3220 THE ARTHUR RUBINSTEIN CENTENARY CONCERT PATRONAGE COMMITTEE Honorar. Chairman: Mrs ARTHUR RUBINSTEIN in the Presence of HRH The Princess of Wales Co-Chairmen: IAN STOUTZKER ERIC SOSNOW Sunday, 25 January, 1987, Vice-Chairman: at the Royal Festival Hall, EDWARD ROCHE London Honorars Concert Manager: LILLIAN HOCHHÄUSER at 7.30 p.m.

COUNT BADEN I SIR ISAIAH BERLIN JACOB J. BISTRITZKY. Israel SIR ZELMAN COWEN Institute for Polish-Jewish Studies, Oxford BARONESS COX ELFRIEDE DIMANT JESSICA DOUGLAS-HOME presents JACK FLIDERBAUM Mr & Mrs JOHN GREEN, USA GENE GUTOWSKY Polish Requiem by Krzysztof Penderecki MARVIN JOSEPHSON, USA BARBARA KACZMAROWSKA (First performance in Great Britain) Mr & Mrs DANIEL KATZ ALEX KRYWALD LEE LAMONT, USA BERNARD LEVIN BBC Singers MARQUESS OF LONDONDERRY MRS ROBERT MAXWELL ALAN MONTEFIORE BBC Symphony Chorus SIR CLAUS MOSER Mr & Mrs ANDRZEJ PANUFNIK BARBARA PIASECKA-JOHNSON. USA BBC Symphony Orchestra HAYIM PINNER PIOTR POLONIECK1 DUKE OF PORTLAND Mariana Nicolesco (France) - soprano COUNT RACZYNSKI PRINCE ANTONI RADZIWILL PRINCE JOHN PAUL SAPIEHA (UK) - mezzo-soprano LADY SIEFF Christine Cairns EDI SMITH INKA SOB1EN-STEVEN NITZ A SPIRO Wieslaw Ochman (Poland) - tenor HALINA SZP1RO LORD WEIDENFELD COUNT ADAM ZAMOYSKI Kurt Rydl (Austria) - bass

Krzysztof Penderecki (Poland) - conductor (There will be a live broadcast of this concert on BBC Radio 3) EX-OFFICIO Dr ANTONY POLONSKY President. Institute for Following the concert: In the presence of HRH The Princess of Wales, Polish-Jewish Studies, Oxford a reception in honour of Mrs Arthur Rubinstein MACIEJ P. JACHIMCZYK Executive Director. Institute for Polish-Jewish Studies, Oxford. Centenary Co-ordinator THE ARTHUR RUBINSTEIN CENTENARY CELEBRATION SIR DAVID LUMSDEN will also feature: Principal, Royal Academy of Music. 10.00 a.m. - 1.00 p.m. Krzysztof Penderecki’s open rehearsal (Royal Festival Hall)

PETER BROWN Appeal Manager. 3.00 p.m. François Réné Duchable piano recital (Purcell Room) Royal Academy of Music Foundation. London 3.00 p.m. Guarneri String Quartet (Queen Elizabeth Hall)

5.00 p.m. Documentary films featuring Arthur Rubinstein (Waterloo Room)

6.00 - 7.15 p.m. The Duo-Art Pianola recordings of Arthur Rubinstein presented by Rex Lawson (foyer) The proceeds of this event for Polish-Jewish Studies. 6.15 p.m. Krzysztof Penderecki in conversation with Paul Patterson about his Oxford, and the life and works (Royal Festival Hall) Royal Academy of Music. London

All enquiries: Co-ordinator: Maciej P. Jachimczyk, Institute for Polish-Jewish-Studies, Oxford. 45 St Giles’, Oxford OXI 3LP. Tel: (0865) 722842 or 53753 Registered Charity Number 293643 THE ARTHUR RUE INSTEIN CENTENARY CONCERT PATRONAGE COMMITTEE Honorary Clulnnan: Mrs ARTHUR RUBINSTEIN in the Presence of HRH The Princess of Wales Co-Chairmen: IAN STO'JTZKER ERIC SOSNOW Sunday, 25 January, 1987, Vice-Chairman: at the Royal Festival Hall, EDWARD ROCHE London Honorars Concert Manager: LILLIAN HOCHHÄUSER at 7.30 p.m.

COUNT BADENI SIR ISAIAH BERLIN JACOB J. B1STR1TZKY. Israel SIR ZELMAN COWEN Institute for Polish-Jewish Studies, Oxford BARONESS COX ELFRIEDE DIMANT JESSICA DOUGLAS-HOME presents JACK FLIDERBAUM Mr & Mrs JOHN GREEN, USA GENE GUTOWSKY Polish Requiem by Krzysztof Penderecki MARVIN JOSEPHSON. USA BARBARA KACZMAROWSKA (First performance in Great Britain) Mr & Mrs DANIEL KATZ ALEX KRYWALD LEE LAMONT. USA BERNARD LEVIN BBC Singers MARQUESS OF LONDONDERRY jMRS ROBERT MAXWELL ALAN MONTEFIORE BBC Symphony Chorus SIR CLAUS MOSER Mr 4 Mrs ANDRZEJ PANUFN1K BARBARA PIASECKA-JOHNSON. USA BBC Symphony Orchestra HAYIM PINNER PIOTR POLONIECK1 DUKE OF PORTLAND (France) - soprano COUNT RACZYNSKI Mariana Nicolesco PRINCE ANTONI RADZIWILL PRINCE JOHN PAUL SAPIEHA LADY SIEFF Christine Cairns (UK) - mezzo-soprano EDI SMITH INKA SOBIEN-STEVEN NITZA SPIRO Wieslaw Ochman (Poland) - tenor HALINA SZPIRO LORD WEIDENFELD COUNT ADAM ZAMOYSKI Kurt Rydl (Austria) - bass

Krzysztof Penderecki (Poland) - conductor (There will be a live broadcast of this concert on BBC Radio 3) EX-OFFICIO Dr 'Afsrrois r PórArNSK-V Institute for Following the concert: Ir> the presence of HRH The Princess of Wales Polish-Jewish Studies. Oxford a reception in honour of Mrs Arthur Rubinstein MACIEJ P. JACHIMCZYK Executive Director. Institute for Polish-Jewish Studies. Oxford. Centenary Co-ordinator THE ARTHUR RUBINSTEIN CENTENARY CELEBRATION SIR DAVID LUMSDEN will also feature: Principal, 10.00 a.m. 1.00 p.m. Krzysztof Penderecki’s open rehearsal (Royal Festival Hall)

PETER SROWN Appeal Manager. 3.00 p.m. François Réné Duchable piano recital (Purcell Room) Royal Academy of Music 3.00 p.m. Guarneri String Quartet (Queen Elizabeth Hall)

5.00 p.m. Documentary films featuring Arthur Rubinstein (Waterloo Room)

6.00 - 7.15 p.m. The Duo-Art Pianola recordings of Arthur Rubinstein presented by Rex Lawson (foyer)

6.15 p.m. Krzysztof Penderecki in conversation with Paul Patterson about his life and works (Royal Festival Hall)

All enquiries: Co-ordinator: Maciej P. Jachimczyk, Institute for Polish-Jewish Studies, Oxford. 45 St Giles’. Oxford OXI 3LP. Tel: (0865) 722842 or 53753 Registered Charily Numbet 293643