Period instruments from Poland CAPELLA CRACOVIENSIS was established in 1970 on the initiative of the then director of the Cracow Philharmonic, Jerzy Katlewicz, who entrusted Stanisław Gałonski with the mission to form an ensemble that would specialize in early music. Over the course of the years, the group has become organizationally independent, featuring highly diversified repertoire from the Middle Ages to world premieres of contemporary music. In November 2008, Jan Tomasz Adamus was named its executive and artistic director.
The repertoire of Capella Cracoviensis is thoroughly eclectic, ranging from Renaissance polyphony to Romantic operas, performed on period instruments and staged according to the guidelines of historical performance practice. With unswerving support from the City of Cracow, the band is able to bring its artistic ideas to life on a world-class artistic level, without compromises. CC is often invited to major festivals and concert halls, such as Bachfest Leipzig, Schwetzingen SWR Festspiele, Händel Festspiele Halle, Haydn Festspiele Brühl, Opéra Royal Versailles, Theater an der Wien, NOSPR Katowice, the Szczecin Philharmonic, and is frequently a guest in Brussels, Ghent, Lvov, Riga, Tallinn, Yerevan, Tbilisi, and Kiev.
The orchestra also regularly invites conductors, concertmasters and soloists for guest performances. Among others, the group has thus already collaborated with outstanding musicians such as Evelino Pidó, Christophe Rousset, Alessandro Moccia, Giuliano Carmignola, Paul Goodwin, Andrew Parrott, and Paul McCreesh.
Mariusz Klimsiak is the laureate of the Third 20th Century Music Competition in Warsaw, the Festival for Young Musicians in Gdansk, the Third all-Polish F. Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw, and the International Piano Festival in Sanok. He graduated with distinction from the Academy of Music in Bydgoszcz under Professor Jerzy Sulikowski, and he further completed his training in masterclasses taught by Ewa Pobłocka, Katarzyna Popowa-Zydro´n, Naum Starkmann, Aleksjej Orłowiecki and Viera Nossina. In 2009, Mariusz Klimsiak was awarded the title of Doctor of Musical Arts.
The artist gave his public debut at the age of fifteen; he has performed with the National Philharmonic, the Wroclaw Philharmonic, the Lower Silesian Philharmonic and the Lublin Philharmonic. The pianist participated in Ła´ncuch IV (the Chain Festival) in Warsaw, the Forum Musicum Festival in Wroclaw, the Lutosławski Forum Festival in Warsaw, the Festival of Polish Pianism in Słupsk, and the International Bach Festival in ´Swidnica, as well as in artistic events in Italy (Florence), Spain (Alicante) and the US (Seattle, San Francisco). With the Lower Silesian Philharmonic under Jerzy Swoboda he went on tour in Germany. He has performed with Mariusz Patyra, with the Silesian String Quartet and with Capella Cracoviensis. Klimsiak’s repertoire spans a wide variety of periods and styles, ranging from the Baroque age to contemporary music.
Frédéric Chopin is one of the greatest composers of the Romantic piano tradition. He was a master in making the small form great. His ballades, mazurkas, polonaises, preludes, etudes and nocturnes all belong to the most popular standard works for piano ever written.
As a child prodigy, Chopin grew up in a middle class family, who lived among the literati of Warsaw. When in 1830 the November Uprising broke out in Poland, the twenty year old Chopin stayed in Vienna. He became an exile and never returned to his mother country. He eventually settled in Paris.
He avoided public concerts, but he did like performing in small settings, such as salons and at home for his friends. This way, Chopin built a reputation as an exceptional pianist, teacher and composer.
Chopin brought a unique synthesis between the Viennese bravado and the French/English lyric style. Even though his pieces often are technically very demanding, the focus was always on creating a lyric expression and poetic atmosphere. He invented the instrumental ballade, and brought salongenres to a higher level with his many innovations and refinements.
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