Krzysztof Baculewski "Subjective Annals 60 Editions of the Festival"

From the Chamber Concerto by Stanisław Skrowaczewski and Sinfonietta per ati by Jan Krenz - to a stage performance of three scenes (1, 3, and 5) from the opera La libertà chiama la libertà by Eugeniusz Knapik. From Arcana by Edgard Varèse - to Id by Tadeusz Wielecki.

From the recital of Hungarian pianist Zoltán Kocsis and Finnish harpsichordist Jukki Tiensuu - to the 'Week of Films by Mauricio Kagel'. From John Adams's Chamber Symphony - to Krzysztof Penderecki's Violin Concerto No. 2. To these highlights one should add Trois Poèmes d'Henri Michaux by Witold Lutosławski (Camerata Silesia and the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra).

In retrospect, this was the year when the tendency to present pro les of completely new composers at the 'Warsaw Autumn' first manifested itself. This rejuvenation of the Festival was quite significant. After years of the public's decreasing interest in the Festival, which had reached its lowest point in the late 1980s and early 1990s, attendance begin to grow again. One of the reasons for this might be the change in Festival organisation: the Management Board of the Polish Composers' Union began to hold competitions to appoint a Festival Director, who was at the same time chairman of the Repertoire Committee. The Committee thus becomes an advisory, and not a decision-making body. Krzysztof Knittel held the post of the 'Warsaw Autumn' Director until 1998.