orchestra
O artyście
The Orchestra of the Karol Szymanowski Philharmonic in Cracow started its activity in February 1945 as the first Polish symphonic orchestra after WWII. Over its 77 years of existence, the orchestra has been conducted by such outstanding maestros as Zygmunt Latoszewski, Bohdan Wodiczko, Stanisław Skrowaczewski, Witold Rowicki, Andrzej Markowski, Henryk Czyż, Jerzy Katlewicz, Tadeusz Strugała, Roland Bader, Jerzy Maksymiuk and Vladimir Ponkin. The orchestra has contributed significantly by performing – together with the mixed philharmonic choir and the boys’ choir – works by Karol Szymanowski (patron of the Cracow Philharmonic since 1962) and Krzysztof Penderecki.
The orchestra has performed in over 30 countries (for example, Iran, Japan, Canada, South Korea, Lebanon, Turkey, the USA), also as part of such renowned festivals as the Festival di Musica Contemporana and Maggio Musicale Fiorentino in Italy, Flanders Festival in Belgium, Festival Estival de Paris, Festival Europäischer Musik in Germany, Ravello Festival in Italy, Wexford Festival Opera in Ireland, Warsaw Autumn or Wratislavia Cantans.
The Cracow Philharmonic Orchestra has performed several world premieres of pieces by 20th-century composers, including Artur Malawski, Grażyna Bacewicz, Witold Lutosławski, Tadeusz Machl, Krystyna Moszumańska-Nazar, Juliusz Łuciuk, Adam Walaciński, Bogusław Schaeffer, Henryk Mikołaj Górecki, Krzysztof Penderecki, Zbigniew Bujarski, Marek Stachowski, Krzysztof Meyer, Wojciech Widłak and Marcel Chyrzyński.
The orchestra’s recordings have been recognised twice with the most prestigious awards: Passion by Penderecki conducted by Henryk Czyż received a Grand Prix du Disque in 1967, while Polonica by Franz Liszt conducted by Tadeusz Strugała – a Grand Prix International du Disque in 1988.