TEN YEARS OF THE INTERNATIONAL KRZYSZTOF PENDERECKI FESTIVAL – LEVEL 320 IN ZABRZE
The Festival began its journey on October 22, 2013, accompanying the celebration of Professor Krzysztof Penderecki’s 80th birthday, which we had the honor of commemorating in the presence of the Patron himself. After the ceremonial planting of Japanese cherry trees—a gift from the Ambassador of Japan—we welcomed the Professor 320 meters underground in the Guido Mine with his Entrata for brass instruments and timpani. Following this, a foundation stone, aptly named and signed by the Composer, was embedded, and we began to “write” the Festival’s history with the Polish premiere of the quintet version of the Master’s symbolically titled work: Pages from an Unwritten Diary.
The premiere, however, was just the beginning. During the final concert of that inaugural edition, I had the honor of conducting the first Polish performance of his Adagio for Strings. Premieres continued in subsequent years, including interdisciplinary and multimedia interpretations of Penderecki’s music by artists such as performance artist Daniel Stryjecki and the Art Color Ballet. The Festival also featured non-traditional arrangements of his works—for percussion ensembles, or for electroacoustic organ, interpreted by Cameron Carpenter.
One of the most significant milestones was the first-ever presentation of Penderecki’s Concertino per tromba e orchestra, premiered as part of a series of world premieres. The interpretation, commissioned by Sinfonietta Cracovia and performed by Gábor Boldoczki, gained significant international acclaim, leading to performances at Vienna’s Konzerthaus and a Sony Classical recording, which went on to win an International Classical Music Award and Germany’s ECHO Klassik award.
In line with the interdisciplinary profile of the Festival, works by other composers were also presented in multimedia formats, featuring performers such as:
- Polish Dance Theatre (The Rite of Spring)
- Movement artists from Teatr Ocelot (Bolero)
- Wojciech Pszoniak and Edward Lutczyn (The Soldier’s Tale)
During the fourth edition, the underground spaces of the Guido Mine were transformed into an opera stage for the Polish premiere of Grigory Frid’s The Diary of Anne Frank, directed by American director Rebekah Rota. Three years later, the mine hosted a theatrical adaptation of Patrick Süskind’s The Double Bass, performed in a now-iconic interpretation by Jerzy Stuhr.
In 2017, the tradition continued with Irina Titova, who accompanied Dmitry Sitkovetsky and his Trio’s performance of Bach’s Goldberg Variations with sand-art visual interpretations. In 2019, the Shanghai Quartet performed alongside a body painting performance by the Art Color Ballet.
Exploring new sounds, sonorist Krzysztof Penderecki was not limited to new techniques—he also created a gigantic, custom-made percussion instrument. The presentation of this PVC-pipe “tubaphone” became the beginning of a festival tradition of showcasing unique instruments like the theremin (one of the first electronic instruments), Leonardo da Vinci’s reconstructed viola organista, and the glass harmonica (verrophone).
Thanks to the Festival’s multimedia character, open format, and unique settings, we reached a wide and diverse audience, including children and youth. In collaboration with the Krzysztof Penderecki European Centre for Music in Lusławice, we promoted young musicians. Zabrze also became home to a mural inspired by Penderecki’s graphic manuscript scores, and other works referencing them were exhibited in underground galleries. The Dafo Quartet once performed Penderecki’s music in total darkness.
Among the Festival’s most memorable accompanying events were:
- Sonoristics of Color – art exhibition by Bartosz Sikorski
- Portrait of the Artist – photographic competition (curated by Marek Bebłot)
- Scores – exhibition of Penderecki’s manuscripts
- A Return Visit: Dali at the Pendereckis’ – artworks by Marian Eile
- Festival for Five – photographic retrospective
- Meeting with Elżbieta Penderecka and promotion of the book Penderecki Family Saga
- Mask – film screening by the Quay Brothers with music by Penderecki (De natura sonoris), based on the work of Stanisław Lem
- Album release events for award-winning recordings (ICMA, Grammy), including:
- Penderecki(s) and Oriental Trumpet Concertos – Sony Classical
- Penderecki conducts Penderecki – Warner Classics
In the challenging pandemic year of 2020, the Festival took place online. It featured the premiere broadcast of Seven Gates of Jerusalem, conducted by Penderecki, and a critically acclaimed underground film impression of Agnus Dei.
Besides the music of the Patron, the Festival has featured works by Bach, Handel, Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin, Dvořák, Ravel, Stravinsky, Poulenc, and contemporary compositions, such as:
- Michael Nyman’s Flute Concerto No. 2, dedicated to Massimo Mercelli
- The premiere of Joanna Wnuk-Nazarowa’s Quintetto per Archi – Ninna nanna, dedicated to Professor Penderecki
Festival concerts and events took place not only in the underground chambers of the Guido Mine—where the Festival was born—but also in Zone K8, the Compressor Chamber, the passageways at Level 320, and the Chapel at Level 170. Outdoor events occurred in the basin and exit of the Queen Louise Adit, and traditional performances were held in Zabrze’s concert halls: the House of Music and Dance and the Zabrze Philharmonic. The Festival has also traveled to the stages of the Kraków Philharmonic and the Vienna Konzerthaus.