Saturday, October 19, 2019

The World of Grażyna Bacewicz

Just a reminder, slightly late, that Bard Music West's annual festival is this weekend, and this year's featured composer is the Polish composer Grażyna Bacewicz.

I went to the first concert last night despite having been up, more or less, since 2 a.m. California time and despite a cross-country flight. The music was splendid, and the performances electrifying.

Here's today's schedule:

3 p.m. to 3:50 p.m. - Screening of The World Only Sees My Cheerful Face
4 p.m. to 6 p.m. - Concert, From War to Warsaw Autumn
8 p.m. to 10 p.m. - Concert, Evolution and Persistence

Noe Valley Ministry
1021 Sanchez
SF, CA

Yesterday's composers were Bacewicz, Stravinsky, Szymanowski, Paderewski, N. Boulanger, Debussy, and Monteverdi. I'm not terribly happy about the spoken program notes (not my thing) and I was even less happy about the uncritical comments on Boulanger, who was anti-Semitic and a dictatorial teacher.

Today's composers are Bacewicz, Clapies, Baird, A. Panufnik, Zubel, Berg, Lutosławski, Ptaszyńska, Kulenty, and Zielinska.

Deepest thanks to Allegra Chapman and Laura Gaynon for this amazing programming, an in-depth look at a terrific composer, the sound-world in which she flourished, and the Polish composers who came after her.

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