28.11.2025, 07.00 PM
The Concert Hall, Podleśna 2
Two great masterpieces of romanticism: R.Schumann’s Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 54 and A. Bruckner’s Symphony No. 3 in D minor, WAB 103 ‘Wagnerian’ will be performed during the concert on November 28.
Both composers drew from different sources of inspiration – Schumann advocated that music should be poetry without words, while Bruckner is described as a religious symphonist.
The final form of the Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 54, is due to publishers who refused to print the Fantasy for Piano and Orchestra in A minor, Op. 54, completed in 1840. Schumann, critical of the stereotypical three-movement form, nevertheless, in the face of their pressure, composed two further movements of the Concerto. This work was first performed by his wife, Clara Wieck, in 1846 at the Gewandhaus in Leipzig and is still considered one of the most outstanding works of its genre.
A.D. Bruckner’s Symphony No. 3 in D minor, dedicated to Wagner, originally contained numerous themes referencing his style, which the composer later removed as too blatant a form of homage. The premiere of this monumental work, deeply rooted in spirituality, took place in Vienna in 1877.
The concert will feature the distinguished pianist Beata Bilińska and the Podlasie Opera and Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Maestro Paweł Przytocki.
You are cordially invited!
PAWEŁ PRZYTOCKI
Born in Krosno. He graduated from the Academy of Music in Cracow in 1985 in the conducting class of Prof. Jerzy Katlewicz. In years 1986-1987, he was a scholarship holder at the Bachakademie Stuttgart, participating in master classes of Prof. Helmuth Riling and in courses of Peter Eötvös.
From 1988 to 1991, he was conductor and artistic director of the Baltic Philharmonic in Gdańsk. In years 1995-1997, he was artistic director of the Artur Rubinstein Philharmonic in Łódź. From 2005 to 2009, he collaborated with the Teatr Wielki- National Opera in Warsaw. In the 2005/2006, season he prepared the premiere of Spartacus by A. Khachaturian and conducted preformances: Onegin by P. Tchaikovsky, La Traviata by G. Verdi and La Boheme by G. Puccini. In the 2006/2007, season he conducted the premiere of the balet Onegin choreographed by John Cranko. Since 2016, he has regularly collaborated with the Wrocław Opera. In years 2008-2012, Paweł Przytocki was the General and Artistic Director of the Karol Szymanowski Philharmonic in Cracow. In 2011, he organized the Gustav Mahler Festival in Cracow, the only one held in Poland to date, featuring the most distinguished orchestral ensembles from Central Europe. He collaborates with most philharmonic orchestras in Poland, as well as with symphony and chamber orchestras abroad, including: the Budapest Concert Orchestra, the Pannon Philharmonic Orchestra, the Orchestra Sinfonika de Xalapa, the Real Filharmonia de Galicia, the Capella Istropolitana in Bratislava, the Janacek Philharmonic in Ostrava, the Slovak Philharmonic in Bratislava, the Slovak Sinfonietta, the Bilkent Symphony Orchestra in Ankara, the National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine in Kiev, the Philharmonic in Odessa, the National Philharmonic in Zagreb, the New Haifa Symphony Orchestra, the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, the Orquesta Filarmonica de Bogota, the National Philharmonic in Santiago, the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra, the Neue Philharmonie Westfalen, the Philharmonisches Staatsorchester Halle, the Staatsorchester Rheinische Philharmonie Koblenz, the Jenaer Philharmonie, the Brandenburgische Staatsorchester Frankfurt, the Nürnberger Symphoniker, the Orquesta Filarmónica Málaga, the Orquestra Sinfonica Porto Alegre.
Paweł Przytocki has performed with Polish orchestras numerous times in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Belgium, the Netherlands, France, and Spain. He regularly participates in international music festivals: Athens Festival (1987), Musikfest Stuttgart (1988), Flanders Festival (1989), La Chaise-Dieu Festival (1996), Kissinger Sommer (1998), Bratislava Musik Festival (1999, 2007, 2010, 2018), Augsburger Mozartsommer (2000), Choriner Musiksommer (2002,2006,2022), Prague Spring (2001), Wratislavia Cantans (2005), Chopin Festival Gaming in Austria, Telavi Festival (2014), Ludwiga van Beethoven Easter Festival (2005, 2022).
Artist performed also at the many prestigues venues/facilities, such as: Vienna (Musikverein), Berlin (Konzerthaus), Brussels (Palais des Beaux-Arts), Santiago (Teatro Municipal), Paris (Théâtre du Châtelet), Hamburg (Musikhalle) and Bonn (Beethovenhalle). He has performed with the most outstanding soloists, including Elizabeth Söderström, Marjana Lipovšek, Bruno Leonardo Gelber, Grigorij Sokołow, Lilyą Zilberstein, Idil Biret, David Geringas, Bomsori Kim. In 2023, he led the Opening Gala of the 17th Arthur Rubinstein International Master Competition in Tel Aviv, conducting all of Rachmaninoff’s concertos in a single performance. His concert schedule is largely complemented by regular recordings for Polish Radio with the National Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra. He has archival records of numerous works by Polish composers of the 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries.
Recordings and concerts featuring these ensembles have been broadcast numerous times on Polish Radio. One of these concerts also appeared on BBC 3 in the prestigious Polish National Day series on November 11, 2014. He has recorded albums for the DUX, Aurophon, and Point Classics labels. His recording of S. Rachmaninoff’s Symphony No. 1 was praised by the American music magazine “La Folia” (alongside such performances as Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5 conducted by Carlos Kleiber and Beethoven’s Appassionata performed by S. Richter) as an example of rare intensity and commitment in music. The latest albums: EMIL MŁYNARSKI VIOLIN CONCERTOS, TANSMAN BACEWICZ PIANO CONCERTOS, WIENIAWSKI NOSKOWSKI POLISH ROMANTIC WORKS received nominations for the “Fryderyk” Award 2020 and 2024, and finally the first album EMIL MŁYNARSKI VIOLIN CONCERTOS received the “Fryderyk” Award 2020. Since 2007, Paweł Przytocki has been associated with the Department of Conducting at the Academy of Music in Kraków, where he leads his conducting class. Since 2017, he has been the artistic director of the Artur Rubinstein Łódź Philharmonic.
BEATA BILIŃSKA
Concerting pianist, chamber musician, teacher. A postdoctoral fellow in musical arts, she is a professor at the Karol Szymanowski Academy of Music in Katowice. She is one of the leading Polish pianists.
For thirthy years she has been intensively involved in artistic activities, preforming with symphonic concerts, solo and chamber recitals in Poland and abroad. She also conducts numerous master classes in Poland and abroad and serves on the juries of national and international piano competitions (including the 17th International Chopin Piano Competition in Asia).
She graduated from the Karol Szymanowski Academy of Music in Katowice in the piano class of Prof. Andrzej Jasiński, getting a diploma with distinction. She also perfected her skills at the Berlin Hochschule der Kunste, studying in the class of Professor Klaus Hellwig. She participated in master classes, working under the guidance of outstanding artists such as: Krystian Zimerman, Lee Kum Sing or John Perry. Beata Bilińska won Second Prize at the 1st Arthur Rubinstein in Memoriam International Competition for Young Pianists in Bydgoszcz in 1993 and was a finalist at the 46th Feruccio Busoni International Piano Competition in Bolzano, Italy, in 1994. In 2002, she won First Prize and the Audience Prize at the 17th Rina Sala Gallo International Piano Competition in Monza, Italy. She has performed at numerous prestigious festivals and concerts in Austria, Argentina, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Ireland, Finland, Japan, Lithuania, Latvia, Moldova, Germany, Norway, Russia, Romania, Slovakia, Switzerland, Sweden, Ukraine, the USA, and Italy, among others.
She has collaborated with most Polish conductors and with international masters of the baton, such as: Massimiliano Caldi, Antal Matyas, Wolfgang Michel, Jiri Mikula, Dainius Pavilionis, Kriss Russmann, Brian Schembri, Christian Schumann, Lothar Seyfarth, Eugene Tzigane, Takao Ukigaya. She has participated in chamber music projects, including numerous collaborations with the Silesian Quartet and the Cracow Wind Quintet, as well as with instrumentalists Jakub Jakowicz, Konstanty Andrzej Kulka, Rafał Kwiatkowski, Patrycja Piekutowska, Agata Szymczewska, Filip Wojciechowski, and Marcin Zdunik.
W 2003 she made her debut at Carnegie Hall in the main hall „Isaac Stern Auditorium” in New York. She was the first Polish pianist to perform Piano concerto ‘Ressurection’ by K. Penderecki (2005) and she is first performer Piano Concerto No. 2 by W. Kilar (2011). Her portfolio includes 13 CDs, including recordings of music by L. van Beethoven, F. Chopin, S. Rachmaninov, M. Mussorgsky, S. Prokofiev, A. Malawski, compositions for violin and piano by Polish composers of the 20th century, chamber works by W.A. Mozart, F. Poulenc, M. Górecki and A. Tansman, A. Malawski, as well as the Piano Concerto “Resurrection” by K. Penderecki (2005) and Piano Concerto No. 2 by W. Kilar (2014).
Beata Bilińska has been nominated twice for the ‘Polityka’ Passport Award and five times for the ‘Fryderyk’ Award. She won the 2015 ‘Fryderyk’ Award for her CD recording of W. Kilar’s Piano Concerto No. 2 (Aukso/Moś/2014). For her other albums, she has received numerous awards, including the ‘Pizzicato Supersonic Award’ in Luxembourg twice, the ‘Joker Award’ awarded by the Belgian ‘Les Crescendo’, the ‘Scherzo Award’ in Madrid and the ‘Musica Award’ in Rome, as well as the most prestigious phonographic distinction, the ‘MIDEM Classical Award’ 2008.
On December 5, 2024, Naxos released another album by the artist with music by A. Malawski, recorded with the Symphony Orchestra of the Podkarpacka Philharmonic in Rzeszów and conductor Mariusz Smolij, which includes her performance of Symphonic Etudes for Piano and Orchestra.