24.10.2025, 7.00 PM Symphonic concert
Main Stage OiFP, Odeska 1
On October 24th, we invite you to THE EVENING OF MASTERS.
We will begin the concert with a performance of the Overture to the opera Tannhäuser by R. Wagner, which foreshadows the content of this several-hour-long work. It tells the story of a medieval poet and musician, exploring the theme of artist freedom, for which he often has to pay the ultimate price. After experiencing the pleasures of love in the Cave of Venus, Tannhäuser yearned to return to the earthly world, creating songs there that delighted but also provoked outrage due to their “impure” nature. This work reflects the emotional state of the minnesinger, who even made a pilgrimage to the Pope seeking absolution, which he ultimately refused and died of exhaustion.
Then you will hear Elgar’s Cello Concerto in E minor, Op. 85, considered one of the most important cello works of the 20th century. The context of the work’s composition is significant – it was written in 1919, immediately after the end of World War I. Filled with nostalgia and melancholy, marked by personal emotions, it prompts the listener to deeper reflection on the essence of past events.
After the intermission, we will hear F. Schubert’s Symphony No. 4 in C minor, D 417 “Tragic”, written in 1816. It owes its nickname to its key, which suggests the work’s romantic character, tending more toward mournful lament, sadness, and lyricism than tragedy. After discovering the score of the Symphony No. 4, R. Schumann wrote: I am firmly opposed to the term ‘Tragic,’ which – it seems to me – was not written by Schubert himself. (…) A ‘Tragic’ would require entirely different things.
The concert will feature the Podlasie Opera and Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Maestro Ruben Silva, and the distinguished cellist Marcin Zdunik.
We invite you to join us!
RUBEN SILVA
A Polish conductor of Bolivian descent, one of the greatest musician of his generation. He began his career in Bolivia, making his debut with the National Symphony Orchestra. He was also a founder of the Youth Symphonin Orchestra in 1975. Later, since 1978 as scholarship holder of Polish goverment he studied at the F. Chopin Academy of Music in Warsaw in the class of Professor Stanisław Wisłocki. Participant and winner of numerous conductor’s competitions: the Gino Marinuzzi International Conducting Competition in San Remo, Italy, the 3rd International G. Fitelberg Conducting Competition in Katowice (laureate and winner of the Award for the youngest finalist, 1983), the International Hungarian Radio and Television Conducting Competition in Budapest. In 2012, he was awarded the Gold Cross of Merit by the President of Poland for his lifetime artistic achievements. In 2024, he was awarded the Silver Medal of Merit to Culture – Gloria Artis – by the Minister of Culture and National Heritage. In 2025, he received from President of the Republic of Poland, Andrzej Duda the Gold Medal for Long Service. He has conducted orchestras all over the world: in most European countires, Japan, Lebanon, South America. He currently collaborates with philharmonics in Poland.
Ruben Silva has also given numerous world premieres of works by contemporary Polish composers, including Zygmunt Krauze’s operas Polyeukt and Baltazar. He has also made numerous archival recordings of Polish music from the 19th century, e.g. the first recording of Halka by S. Moniuszko (Vilnius version), as well as music from the 20th and 21st centuries (including works by Henryk Mikołaj Górecki, Piotr Moss, Marcin Błażejewicz and Augustyn Bloch). He has served as artistic director of the Wrocław Opera, the Cracow Opera, the Koszalin Philharmonic, as music director of the Grand Theatre in Łódź, as general and artistic director of the Sinfonia Baltica Polish Philharmonic in Słupsk. Since 1983, Ruben Silva has been associated with the Warsaw Chamber Opera and since 2013, following the death of the legendary Director Stefan Sutkowski, also as artistic director. Throughout his career, he has conducted dozens of opera, operetta, and musical premieres in numerous Polish and European theaters. His interpretations have always been highly acclaimed by audiences and critics. He is valued and liked for his sense of style, temperament, musicality and excellent conducting skills.
He is an appointed teacher, in years 1999-2005 he has worked as a teacher at the Karol Szymanowski State Music School Complex No. 4 in Warsaw.
He has also conducted numerous summer courses and music camps for young people, including Jeunesses Musicales in Poland.
He is currently the Chief Executive and Artistic Director of the Kalisz Philharmonic.
MARCIN ZDUNIK
Polish cellist, soloist and chamber musician. He performs music ranging from the Renaissance to the most recent works, improvises, arranges and composes. He is invited to participate in prestigious music festivals – BBC Proms in London, Progetto Martha Argerich in Lugano and Chopin and His Europe in Warsaw.
He has preformed as a soloist on the stages of many renowned venues, including Carnegie Hall in New York, the Konzerthaus in Berlin, Cadogan Hall in London and the Rudolfinum in Praque. He has been partnered many times by outstanding ensembles, among others, the Symphonic Orchestra of the National Philharmonic in Warsaw, the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, the Orchestre National des Pays de la Loire, the Praque Chamber Orchestra, the European Union Chamber Orchestra, the Sinfonia Varsovia Orchestra and the City of London Sinfonia, and distinguished conductors, for example Andrzej Boreyko, JoAnn Falletta, Antoni Wit and Andres Mustonen. Collaboration with inspiring musicians plays an important role in his artistic life, including, Nelson Goener, Rafał Blechacz, Krzysztof Jakowicz, Bomsori Kim, Jakub Józef Orliński, Szymon Nehring, Aleksander Dębicz, Katarzyna Budnik and Jakub Jakowicz. As part of festivalChamber Music Connects the World he had a privilege to concert together with Gidon Kremer i Yuri Bashmet. During the 2016/17 artistic season, he was artist-in-residence at the National Philharmonic in Warsaw.
He has received numerous awards at international music competitions and festivals. In 2007, he won First Prize, the Grand Prix, and nine other prizes at the 6th Witold Lutosławski International Cello Competition in Warsaw. In 2008, he represented Polish Radio in Bratislava at the International Forum of Young Performers organized by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), winning the New Talent 2008 award. In 2009, he received the Gwarancja Kultury award from TVP Kultura. In June 2009, Marcin Zdunik released his debut album with the Wratislavia Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Jan Stanienda. It included recordings of two cello concerts by J. Haydn. He received the 2010 Fryderyk Award for this album. The artist has also recorded the complete works for cello and piano by Robert Schumann (with pianist Aleksandra Świgut; NIFC 2014), Fantasia for cello and orchestra by M. Weinberg (with the Sinfonia Varsiovia Orchestra conducted by A. Mustonen; TWON 2015), the chamber music of Fryderyk Chopin (Chopin. Chamber Music; with pianist Szymon Nehring and violist Ryszard Groblewski, NIFC 2020), and a number of chamber compositions. The double album Bach Stories was recorded with pianist Aleksander Dębicz and released by Warner Classics. Two of Marcin Zdunik’s recent albums have received the Fryderyk Award: Words of Mystery, recorded with the Camerata Silesia Katowice City Singers’ Ensemble under the direction of Anna Szostak, and Paweł Mykietyn’s Cello Concerto No. 2, in which he collaborated with the Orchestra of the National Forum of Music in Wrocław under the direction of Bassem Akiki. Marcin Zdunik has also made numerous recordings for Polish Radio and Television and Slovak Radio. Composition plays an important role in his artistic work. In recent years, he has composed, among others: The Cello Concerto “Ghosts of the Past” (2021), commissioned by the Amadeus Chamber Orchestra of Polish Radio, conducted by Anna Duczmal-Mróz, the Piano Quartet (2022), the cantata Cor Jesu for tenor, choir, and orchestra (2024), the Piano Trio (2024), the piece Da Pacem Domine for solo cello and seven cellos, a number of solo compositions, and music for theater performances.
Marcin Zdunik studied under the guidance of eminent musicians Andrzej Bauer and Julius Berger. He furthered his musicological knowledge during his studies at the Institute of Musicology, University of Warsaw, under the supervision of Professor Szymon Paczkowski. His master’s thesis, Bach in Search of the Ideal. Four Versions of the Johannine Passion, BWV 245, received first prize in the Zofia Lissa Competition. The artist is a recipient of the Scholarship for Outstanding Young Scientists awarded by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education (2016–2019).
Marcin Zdunik teaches cello classes at the Academy of Music in Gdańsk and the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in Warsaw.
In April 2021, he received the title of Professor of Art in the discipline of musical arts, and in 2020, he received the honorary badge Meritorious for Polish Culture from the Minister of Culture and National Heritage.
