In the Footsteps of Romanticism
Programme:
- Ludwig van BEETHOVEN: Egmont (overture)
- Gustav MAHLER: Rückert’s Songs
- Richard STRAUSS: selection of songs
- Felix MENDELSSOHN-BARTHOLDY: Hebrides (overture)
About programme:
Join us on a journey through the traces of musical Romanticism, from its gradual birth in the work of Ludwig van Beethoven, represented in this concert by his famous overture Egmont, through the overture of another German composer Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy Hebrides, to the song works of two of the most prominent figures of late Romanticism, Gustav Mahler and Richard Strauss. It will feature Polish artists soprano Adriana Ferfecka and conductor Rafał Kłoczko.
Performers:
Adriana Ferfecka – soprano
Polish soprano Adriana Ferfecka graduated from The Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in Warsaw in the singing class of Professor Jolanta Janucik. In the 2014/2015 season she was a member of The Opera Academy at The Grande Théâtre–Polish National Opera in Warsaw. In 2015 she was a participant of The Young Singers Project at The Salzburg Festival in Austria where she created the role of Rosina in Il Barbiere di Siviglia.
She is the first prize winner at numerous competitions as The International Competition for Opera Singers “Ferruccio Tagliavini” in Austria (2014), The International Competition „Le Grand Prix de l’Opera” in Romania (2014), The Classical Singing Competition DEBUT in Germany (2014), The International Opera Competition “Ottavio Ziino” in Italy (2014), The International Singing Competition “Iris Adami Corradetti” in Italy (2016) among others. In October 2018 she won The Third Prize and The Soroptimist Club Vercelli Prize at The 69th Gian Battista Viotti International Music Competition in Italy.
As a scholarship singer at The Deutsche Oper Berlin (2015–2017) she sang the First Lady in Die Zauberflöte, Xanthe in Die Liebe der Danae, Anna in Nabucco, Barbarina in Le nozze di Figaro, Frasquita in Carmen and Zerlina in Don Giovanni among others. In the 2016/2017 season she made her debut at The Teatro dell’Opera di Roma as Corinna in Il viaggio a Reims. In the next years this young artist performed Susanna in Le Nozze di Figaro at Teatro Lirico di Cagliari, Nella in Gianni Schicchi at De Nationale Opera in Amsterdam, Valencienne in Die lustige Witwe at Teatro La Fenice as well as at Teatro dell’Opera di Roma and Micaëla in Carmen at Deutsche Oper Berlin. In 2019 she performed for the first time on Polish opera stages creating the role of Mimì in La Bohème at The Silesian Opera House in Bytom and the title part in Suor Angelica at the opening gala concert of The International Ada Sari Vocal Art Festival in Nowy Sącz.
In the 2019/2020 season she made her debuts in such parts as Saffi in Der Zigeunerbaron at The Stanisław Moniuszko Podlasie Opera and Philharmonic–European Art Centre in Białystok, Adina in L’elisir d’amore at The Silesian Opera House in Bytom and Ilia in Idomeneo, Re di Creta at Teatro dell’Opera di Roma. The 2020/2021 season is marked by her performances as Mimì in Wrocław Opera House and The Grande Théâtre–Polish National Opera in Warsaw. At The Grande Théâtre–Polish National Opera she will also create the role of Micaëla. She will also return to Teatro dell’Opera di Roma where she will perform as Liu in Turandot.
Adriana Ferfecka cooperated with such directors as Robert Carsen, Damiano Michieletto, David Herman, Ole Anders Tandberg, Jan Philipp Gloger, Roland Schwab among others as well as with such conductors as Stefano Montanari, Michele Mariotti, Jerzy Maksymiuk, Marc Albrecht, Donald Runnicles, Andrea Battistoni and José Cura among others.
Rafał Kłoczko – dirigent
Rafał Kłoczko studied conducting, music theory and composition at the S. Moniuszko Academy of Music in Gdańsk and in 2019 he received his doctorate in music from the K. Penderecki in Kraków. In addition, he studied in Vienna (Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst) and Warsaw. In 2021 he graduated from the prestigious Cultural Management course at the University of Economics.
Already during his studies he was actively engaged in conducting, often performing at his alma mater in Gdańsk and on the stage of the Baltic Opera, Warsaw Chamber Opera or conducting concerts of the Pomeranian Music Association in Toruń, where he has been vice-president for more than 5 years. He has gained experience and skills in numerous masterclasses and while assisting such distinguished artists as Franz Welser-Möst, Marco Guidarini, Jacek Kaspszyk, Łukasz Borowicz, Bassem Akiki, Andriy Yurkevych, Tadeusz Kozłowski, Janusz Przybylski, Mirosław Jacek Błaszczyk and Colin Metters.
As a conductor, he has made a name for himself not only as an outstanding interpreter of operas but also of symphonic works, appearing on stages throughout the country and abroad. He has worked with the Bolshoi Theatre – the National Opera in Warsaw, the Wrocław Opera, the Warsaw Chamber Opera, the Baltic Opera, the Royal Opera La Monnaie in Brussels, the Bolshoi Theatre in Łódź, the Silesian Opera, the Podlasie Opera and Philharmonic, He has performed with the Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra in Sopot, the Lodz, Koszalin, Świętokrzyskie, Gorzów, Opole and Baltic Philharmonics, as well as the Toruń Symphony Orchestra, the Beethoven Academy Orchestra and the Valletta Philharmonic Orchestra (Malta). He has performed with a pleiad of Polish artists, including such names as Tomasz Konieczny, Konstanty Andrzej Kulka, Janusz Wawrowski, Stanisław Daniel Kotliński. Małgorzata Walewska, Janusz Olejniczak, Olga Pasiecznik. For years he has been associated not only with the most important Polish musical theatre (Teatr Wielki-Opera Narodowa) and its Opera Academy, but also with the leading North Polish ensemble Cappella Gedenesis. Among his most notable achievements are a conducting internship at the Salzburg Festival (2016), which he was the first Pole to complete, and in 2017-18 a conducting internship at the Wiener Staatsoper (Vienna State Opera). On the occasion of the 200th anniversary of Stanislaw Moniuszko’s birth, he prepared, together with Łukasz Borowicz, a production of the four-act opera Halka, which premiered in December 2019 at the Theater und der Wien. This event was not only recognised as the highlight of the composer’s birthday celebrations, but was also recorded by Polish and Austrian television.
In 2021, he won the competition for the post of director of the Zielona Góra Philharmonic, becoming the youngest person in the country to hold such a post.
In addition to his work as a conductor, an important part of his activity is his work as an arranger. His arrangements have been presented on many Polish and foreign stages (Grand Theatre-National Opera in Warsaw, W. Lutosławski Concert Studio of the Polish Radio, Musikverein in Vienna, Wrocław Opera, S. Moniuszko Grand Theatre in Poznań), during such renowned events as the inauguration of the 10th International S. Moniuszko Vocal Competition (Warsaw, 2019) or Norwid’s Theatrum Mundi – a concert on the 200th anniversary of the poet’s birth. They have also been presented more than once on the Polish Radio.
Rafał Kłoczko’s compositional output includes several dozen titles (chamber, vocal-instrumental and symphonic works). These works have been presented in almost all major Polish music centres (Warsaw, Poznań, Wrocław, Kraków, Gdańsk, Bydgoszcz, Szczecin, Toruń) and awarded at competitions.
Since the beginning of his professional activity, Rafał Kłoczko’s work and creativity have been appreciated, which is evidenced not only by excellent reviews, awards and distinctions at composition and conducting competitions, but also by numerous scholarships under such prestigious programmes as: ‘composer-in-residence’ and “conductor-in-residence” organised by the National Institute of Music and Dance and Young Poland (National Cultural Centre). He was also a multiple scholarship holder of the Office of the Marshal of the Pomorskie and Kujawsko-Pomorskie Voivodships, the City of Gdańsk and the City of Toruń, as well as the Minister of Culture and National Heritage.
Apart from music, his great passions are puzzles and learning languages. He speaks German, English and Italian, and in recent years has continued learning French, Portuguese and Mandarin.
