Lower Silesian Philharmonic: Meetings in Grand Style. Strauss and Prokofiev.

On a warm June evening, the Lower Silesian Philharmonic in Jelenia Góra invited us to its original Concert Hall for music in grand style, featuring the music of two significant composers.

We had the extraordinary pleasure of listening to: Concerto for Oboe and Small Orchestra D-major AV 144 TrV 292 by Richard Strauss and Symphony No. III in C minor op. 44 by Sergei Prokofiev.

Even before the concert began, we heard about an event from Richard Strauss's life, which bore the marks of a struggle for survival and could be said to have become the cornerstone of the concert's creation in a later period. The meeting, which was undoubtedly extremely difficult for the composer, was, however, incredibly valuable, just as the invitation to perform this concert by conductor and oboist Bassem Akiki, in whose life Richard Strauss occupies a very important place and whose music and its depth and significance he understands perfectly.

The appreciation of the allied oboist-composer was expressed in the difficulty of the oboe part, which was performed with virtuosity by Łukasz Widera, bravo!, and the joy of this meeting resonated throughout the entire work.

I am the composer of The Knight of the Silver Rose – when the ceremony of awarding the Silver Rose at the 77th Vienna Philharmonic Ball took place, in which I also participated, I felt the immense significance of that moment, and during the concert, thanks to the Jelenia Góra Symphony Orchestra and the duet Wilczura/Akiki, I felt the importance of those words spoken by the composer.

The second piece performed by the sparkling Lower Silesian Symphony Orchestra that day also concerned a meeting, whether real or imagined, being a product of a sick imagination or perhaps such strong desires to be Renata in a relationship with men?

“Renata from the Angel wanted more and more...” We did not have to want, because the orchestra under the baton of Bassem Akiki allowed us to immerse ourselves completely in the imaginations, desires, and experiences of the heroine, which delighted me greatly, as listening to The Fiery Angel in TWON in Warsaw due to the distance from the orchestrion was not possible.

The audience was filled to the brim with the emotions of Prokofiev music lovers, the playing of Łukasz Wilczura, and also those who came for the talent of Bassem Akiki, who beautifully, with talent and depth, brings out the creativity of Richard Strauss for us.

Iwona Karpińska
Wrocław