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The French Critics Association of Theatre, Music and Dance (Syndicat de la critique théâtre, danse et musique) has awarded this year’s Best Premiere of the season 2019/20 (Meilleure Création Musicale) to Zygmunt Krauze for his Piano Concerto No. 3 – “Fragments of Memory”. The Prix du Syndicat de la Critique has been awarded since 1963. The prize is among the most prestigious awards in the field of performing arts in France. 

The piece, commissioned by the Adam Mickiewicz Institute, the Orchestre national de Metz, the “Warsaw Autumn” International Festival of Contemporary Music and the National Philharmonic in Warsaw, had its world premiere at the inaugural concert of last year’s “Warsaw Autumn”, with the composer’s as soloist and the National Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Wilson Hermanto. The French premiere of the work took place in January 2020 at l’Arsenal Metz with the Orchestre national de Metz, also with Zygmunt Krauze and Wilson Hermanto. Partners of the project were also the Polish Institute in Paris and the French Institute in Warsaw.

It is a great pleasure for me to be honoured for the second time by French critics with this award. I am glad that my works are still so valued in France, with which an important part of my composers path is connected – said Zygmunt Krauze. Earlier, in the 2011/2012 season, this prestigious award was given to the composer’s opera “Polieukt”. Krauze for over a decade lived in Paris, where he both created his compositions and actively influenced the formation of the Parisian music scene. In the 1970s, Pierre Boulez invited the Polish composer to serve as artistic advisor to the Institut de Recherche et Coordination Acoustique Musique (IRCAM). He was awarded the French Legion of Honour (2007) and the title Chevalier dans l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (1984).

Working on the premiere material is a great responsibility: both towards the composer, the performers and the audience – says Wilson Hermanto – in the case of Zygmunt Krauze, it was also a great pleasure and honour. I am glad that together with the excellent orchestras from Warsaw and Metz I could be a part of this wonderful project. 

The orchestration of Zygmunt Krauze’s Piano Concerto No. 3 included four Veme – the new percussion instruments, concepts of the French musician and composer Dominique Delahoche, created in collaboration between the Orchestre national de Metz and the Technical University of Arts and Métiers Metz.

The recording from the premiere will be available on the CD album of the 62nd “Warsaw Autumn” International Festival of Contemporary Music. A studio recording of the work is also planned.

The composition has been commissioned by the Orchestre national de Metz, the “Warsaw Autumn” International Festival of Contemporary Music, the National Philharmonic Orchestra in Warsaw and the Adam Mickiewicz Institute, as part of the Polska Music and POLSKA 100 programme, an international cultural programme for the centenary of Poland’s independence. Co-funded by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage as part of the long-term programme NIEPODLEGŁA 2017-2022.

More information and the full list of Prix de la Critique: https://associationcritiquetmd.com
Zygmunt Krauze: https://zygmuntkrauze.com
Wilson Hermanto: http://sonoramusic.eu/pl/projekty/artyci/wilson-hermanto

(photo: Grzegorz Mart / Warsaw Autumn)