Even if it does not immediately ring a bell, Polish music might not be that unfamiliar after all. Zbigniew Preisner, Wojciech Kilar and Jan A.P. Kaczmarek are indeed three well-known names. Jan A.P. Kaczmarek won the Oscar for his score on Marc Forster’s Finding Neverland (2004). Zbigniew Preisner wrote the music for the masterpiece Three Colours: Blue, White, Red (1993 - 1994). Many critics described the music as a character on its own, thus making it an essential part of these movies directed by Krzysztof Kieslowski. For that same director Preisner wrote a ‘Requiem’ which is still performed to this day.
Preisner works by the following motto: “I only want to write good music. I do not want to write in a particular style for a particular movie”. He applies this to perfection and that is why his music is so powerful. This concert leaves an unforgettable impression of how Preisner integrates a voice and a choir into his music, adorning it with a special colour and sound. Our guest conductor Krzysztof Herdzin performs a suite of his own hand. The music reminds us of movies such as The Pianist (2002), The Portrait of a Lady (1996) and Dracula (1992), but firstly invokes the folkish roots of Polish film music.