Festival for everyone
This hard to believe, but our humble and yet important festival turns twenty-five next year! A quarter of a century is a striking achievement for the event created by several female students from the University of Wroclaw. Humble as it was, the festival has survived the upcoming seasons. This year's edition of the festival is its twenty-fourth looks particularly promising to those who like to engage with the music by J.S. Bach, which is to commemorate the 330th anniversary of his birth. But this is not the only reason to attend the concerts, all of which are free of charge! The festival is also going to showcase a number of intriguing early music ensembles, many of them active in Lower Silesia. Recognised as they are by the experts, they are also worthy of the attention from the audience. Especially since the performers include not only instrumentalists and singers but also instrument makers such as Rafał Dembiński.
Bach's masterpieces
What treats are there in the May with Early Music 2015 programme? Most of all, compositions by Bach. Concerts (7 p.m. on 15 May at the Oratorium Marianum) in transcription for the piano (Julita Przybylska-Nowak) and violin (Robert Bachara). They will be accompanied by the University Baroque Orchestra (featuring musicians from the Wroclaw baroque Orchestra) under cellist Bartosz Kokosza. The organ works (6 p.m. on 18 May at the Holy Cross Church) will be performed by Piotr Rojek, a lecturer at the Wroclaw Academy of Music and an active instrumentalist both in Poland and in Europe. He is going to perform Prelude and Fugue in E-flat major and Bach's most popular Toccata and Fugue in D-minor. Harpists Magdalena Czopka, Karol Czopka and Ligia Nowak are going to present an entire programme devoted solely to Bach in transcription for the harp, one of the most alluring instruments (the youngest performer Ligia Nowak is just nine!). The concert starts at 7 p.m. on 19 May at the Town Hall's Grand Hall.
Marek Dyżewski is going to elaborate on the awe-inspiring Bach improvisation in a special lecture at the Klub Muzyki i Literatury (20 May at 7 p.m.), and Bach's Charpsichord Concerto in A-major will in turn be presented on the evening of 21 May (Oratorium Marianum at 7 p.m.). The same evening also features a Harpsichord Concerto by Carl Philip Emanuel Bach, J.S. Bach's son.
Renaissance and early dance and melodies
May with Early Music is also going to feature music which dates to periods different than the Baroque. This is particularly true for the Renaissance, which is showcased in a masterly fashion by two Polish composers from the period: Wacław of Szamotuły and Mikołaj Gomółka (the vocal student ensemble Piu Mosso is going to perform the psalms by this eminent composers' duo). The concert starts at 7 p.m. on 20 May at SS.
Peter and Paul's Church in Ostrów Tumski. The fans of early dance are recommended to see the breathtaking "La Salle. A Dancer from Versailles", a dance show about Marie Sale, a woman who conquered Handel's London and the royal court of Versailles. The performance is presented by the Early Dance Ensemble at the University of Wroclaw and the Pawanilia Early Dance Ensemble from Warsaw. The choreography (based on historical records) was designed by English stage director Jane Gingell. The performance starts at 7.30 p.m. on 26 May at the Oratorium Marianum.
