founded in 1990 by Anna Szostak, is a team of vocalists who perform chamber singing and solo parts for vocal and instrumental music, as well as choral repertoire
a cappella.
Camerata Silesia quickly became the most recognisable Polish ensemble specializing in the performance of both early and contemporary music. The singers’ outstanding technical proficiency, along with emission and intonation appropriate to the early music performance canon, has attracted the attention of both critics and composers. The former have been generous with praise, while the latter have composed works specifically for Camerata Silesia, dedicating them to the various singers and to the conductor, who are all particularly sought after for first performances of these pieces.
The choir ’s discography include a dozen CDs, which have attracted a number of prestigious phonographic awards.
Every year since 1993 the ensemble has been invited to take part in the International Festival of Contemporary Music Warsaw Autumn. Its performances of Anton Webern’s
Cantataswith Sinfonia Varsovia, conducted by Ed Spanjaard (1995), and
Trois Poèmes d’Henri Michauxby Witold Lutosławski with the National Symphony Orchestra of Polish Radio, conducted by Anna Szostak and Antoni Wit (1996), have been heralded as some of the greatest events to grace this festival. Among the choir ’s most important achievements was also a performance of Luciano Berio’s
Sinfonia at the inaugural concert of Warsaw Autumn in 1999.
In the same year Camerata Silesia appeared by special invitation of the Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk at the Leipzig Gewandhaus; they also appeared at Opéra Comique (Paris) and gave concerts in Taipei (Taiwan), Mei Lanfang Theatre (Beijing) and Théâtre de la Monnaie (Brussels), as well as appearing during a cycle of concerts at the EXPO 2000 in Hanover.
In December 2005 The Ensemble gave first Polish performances of works by Luciano Berio, Giacinto Scelsi and Luigi Nono during the “Days of Italian Contemporary Music” International Festival in Cracow. For several years Camerata Silesia has collaborated with the famous English soprano Emma Kirkby, and recently with Barbara Schlick at concerts in Düsseldorf and Katowice.
Polish music frequently appears in the programmes of the ensemble’s concerts abroad. During the Île-de-France festival (2004), Camerata Silesia appeared twice: first with Polish Renaissance and Baroque music as well as contemporary composers, and subsequently with the Musicatreize ensemble from Marseille, performing
Trois Poèmes d’Henri Michaux by Witold Lutosławski at the SaintLouis-des-Invalides cathedral in Paris. Later the same composition was performed at the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels accompanied by the National Belgian Orchestra.
The year 2006 saw many performances of music by K. Penderecki.
St Luke Passion resounded in Münster, Cracow and Hamburg. July 2006 saw the 12th International Congress of Baroque Music in Warsaw, and on that occasion the Ensemble revived the work by M. Scacchi,
Missa per omnium tonorum, recently rediscovered and reconstructed after 358 years. In August Camerata Silesia appeared at the 61st International Chopin Festival.
In February and March 2005, the ensemble appeared in a premiere performance of
Parsifalby Richard Wagner, staged at the Gran Teatro La Fenice di Venezia, under the baton of Gabor Ötvös and directed by Denis Krief. In 2008 and 2009 Camerata Silesia was invited as the festival choir by Sommerfestspiele in Bregenz (Austria) where it performed in both stage and concert productions together with soloists and the Vienna Symphony Orchestra under such renowned conductors as Chris Moulds, Ulf Schirmer, Carlo Rizzi and Lothar Königs. The extensive programme contained pieces from Handel’s
Solomon oratorio, as well as from such operas as
Karl V by Ernst Křenek, Puccini’s
Tosca, Verdi’s
Aida, and Szymanowski’s
King Roger. Many composers have written works for Camerata Silesia, who have premiered compositions by Rafał Augustyn, Krzysztof Baculewski, Ryszard Gabryś, Henryk Mikołaj Górecki, Krzysztof Knittel, Stanisław Krupowicz, Krzysztof Penderecki, Zbigniew Preisner, Bogusław Schaeffer, Witold Szalonek, Agata Zubel, and will surely go on to premiere other works in the future.
www.camerata.silesia.pl
