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Source: „Ruch Muzyczny” Magazine
Title: ICO for the third time
Date: 03.09.2013
To lend luster to the Polish Presidency of the EU Council in 2011, the Adam Mickiewicz
Institute established a youth orchestra featuring instrumentalists from Poland and the
Eastern Partnership member states, i.e. Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova
and Ukraine. The concerts given by the I, Culture Orchestra (ICO) in ten European concert
halls were such a success that the project has continued. Thus, this year saw its third
edition, as on August 26 in Gdańsk the young musicians started the ICO tour, which will
continue in Reykjavik, Gothenburg, Copenhagen, Tallinn and Kiev.
The evening performance included the symphonic poem Grazhyna by the Ukrainian
composer Boris Lyatoshinsky, Witold Lutosławski’s Cello Concerto featuring Truls Mork
and Bela Bartók’s Concerto for Orchestra. Let us get straight to the point: the orchestra
sounded splendid, largely thanks to the young Ukrainian conductor Kirill Karabits who, in
the course of ten days of intense rehearsals transformed the bunch of talented individuals
into a harmonious ensemble which handled the challenging program outstandingly well.
Also instrumental to the quality were undoubtedly the workshops for the orchestra
members conducted by as many as twenty tutors.
Throughout the concert, the musicians seemed somewhat frightened, although – let us
stress it once more – they played really well. The tension only subsided on conclusion of
the program, as the orchestra performed the mazurka from Moniuszko’s Halka as the
encore, for the first time sporting authentically joyful appeal and laid-backness.
Norwegian soloist Truls Mork’s performance provided a powerful spark. Having conquered
a ruthless illness, the musician has been back on stage for the past two years. Mork’s
interpretation of Lutosławski’s Concerto was moving. An unbelievably sensitive and
expressive artist, Mork mastered the grand form with exquisite skill, weaving a tale on
oppression and despair, full of terror and terrifyingly credible.
A few more words should be said of Lyatoshynsky, a composer who is relatively unknown
in Poland and remains largely problematic to me, although I consider myself an admirer of
Wagner, Strauss and Tchaikovsky, whose music the Ukrainian composer apparently also
held in high regard. A paradox? Let me encourage you to form your own opinion on his
compositions; a significant portion of Lyatoshynsky’s body of work is available online,
including his 1955 (!) Grazhyna (just google “Lyatoshynsky”). Including the poem in the
program was a very kind gesture, as Grazhyna is based on Adam Mickiewicz’s work, and
commemorates the centenary of the poet’s death. Simply speaking, a diplomatic
masterpiece, although not entirely well-thought out music-wise, which is a pity, as an
opportunity presented itself to promote a work of genuine worth, in which – as I am fully
convinced – the Ukrainian music certainly abounds.
Anna Pęcherzewska-Hadrych