West Side Sinfonietta | MOSZKOWSKI

We cordially invite you to a concert promoting the latest album of the West Side Sinfonietta orchestra. The album with works by Moritz Moszkowski had its premiere in July 2020. Although a pandemic thwarted the concert plans, we come back with great compositions, repeating the question once asked by The Musical Courier: "Who is not impressed by the charm of these melodies?"

Moritz Moszkowski was a German composer of Polish-Jewish origin who was also an excellent pianist. Unfortunately, many hours of practising playing an instrument harmed his health. When he turned to composing in earnest, his works were enthusiastically received all over Europe. Despite the fact that Berlin and Paris celebrated him, Moszkowski died in poverty, having lost his property during the First World War. His biography is full of memorable events, and the memories of him are a perfect picture of European artistic life in the fin de siècle era.

The idea for the album was to show different sounds. Prelude and Fugue is for a chamber orchestra, while the Violin Concerto is meant for a large symphonic composition. By the way, Moszkowski was not a violinist. He wrote his violin concerto in a rather inconvenient way for the soloist (the performers wonder if they are unwittingly falling victim to the composer's planned "revenge"). "Spanish Dances", originally written for piano, have been arranged for twelve different performances, this time they will sound in a surprising and sparing instrumentation.

West Side Sinfonietta is an ensemble founded on the initiative of musicians from the NFM Wrocław Philharmonic and the Szczecin Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra. The instrumentalists of both excellent institutions from the region of Western Poland exchange various artistic experiences. The orchestra is not traditionally led by a conductor, but by violinists. This function is performed by the concertmasters Marcin Danilewski and Paweł Maślanka, who together with the excellent double bass player Jacek Sosna constitute the backbone of the ensemble.

The West Side Sinfonietta's repertoire is vibrant. A special place in it is occupied by the music of Viennese composers (Hadyn and Mozart) and salon music (of the Strauss family, Lehár). The orchestra owes its existence to the favour of the director of the National Music Forum Witold Lutosławski in Wrocław, Andrzej Kosendiak, and the director of the Mieczysław Karłowicz Philharmonic in Szczecin – Dorota Serwa.