
Leśmian Couplets
for baritone and piano (2022) / for baritone and orchestra (2024)
for baritone and piano (2022) / for baritone and orchestra (2024)
A cycle of songs to chosen poems by Bolesław Leśmian. All the texts have a two-verse structure, which seems to have a deeper meaning. Ambiguity is a theme in itself.
Chosen poems are: Śmiercie (Deaths), Goryl (Gorilla), Dookoła klombu (Around the Bush), Gad (Reptile), Niewidzialni (Invisibles).
The piece was written for bass-bariton Tomasz Konieczny, on commission by the Adam Mickiewicz Institute in 2022.
In 2024, a version of three songs (Around the Flowerbed, Gorilla, The Invisibles) for baritone and orchestra was commissioned by the Zielona Góra Philharmonic .
PERFORMANCE HISTORY:
VERSION FOR BARITONE AND PIANO
PREMIERE: 9/11/2022 Festsaal Neues Schloss, Bad Muskau; Lausitz Festival; performers: Tomasz Konieczny, Lech Napierała
12/17/2022 Teatr Wielki - Polish National Opera (Redutowe Rooms); performers: Tomasz Konieczny, Lech Napierała (Polish premiere. Performance was a part of the recital on the ocassion of Tomasz Konieczny's 25 years of operatic career)
10/29/2023; Merkin Hall; Kaufman Music Center, New York; Chopin and Friends Festival; Tomasz Konieczny, Lech Napierała
VERSION FOR BARITONE AND ORCHESTRA
PREMIERE: 9/29/2024, Zielona Góra Philharmony; Tomasz Konieczny, Zielona Góra Philharmony Orchestra, Rafał Kłoczko; I Tadeusz Baird Festival
RECORDING HISTORY
VERSION FOR BARITONE AND PIANO
2022; Polish Radio Studio S1; Realisation and mastering: Gabriela Blicharz and Lech Dudzik; Dal Segno Institute