In this concert featuring boys’ choirs, two choirs will appear on the stage of the Red Hall. The first will be the NFM Boys’ Choir, which regularly performs in Wrocław, conducted by Małgorzata Podzielny; the second – guests from Switzerland, the Knabenkantorei Basel, conducted by Oliver Rudin. The event will be divided into three parts. First, each of the choirs will perform separately, and at the end of the concert they will stand on stage together. The programme includes works by Johann Sebastian Bach, Anton Bruckner, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Franz Schubert, and Andrew Lloyd Webber.
In the first part of the evening, the NFM Boys’ Choir will present their performing skills. Their programme includes five compositions. The list opens with In monte Oliveti by Giambattista Marini – a composer representing the turn of the Baroque and Classicism. This artist went down in history as a mentor to the younger generation of composers. They included Johann Christian Bach (one of Johann Sebastian’s sons) and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The latter needs no introduction to any of the listeners – his piece will also be included in the concert programme. It will be Laudate Dominum from Vesperae solennes de confessore KV 339. Another work with a sacred theme will be Sanctus from Missa brevis in D major op. 63, by Benjamin Britten – one of the most outstanding English composers of the 20th century. The Robber’s Dance will also be performed. The author of the lyrics of this piece is unknown, but its musical arrangement was created by the composer, pianist and teacher Mieczysław Makowski. The culmination of this part of the concert will be a performance of the well-known song by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie – We Are the World.
The Knabenkantorei Basel will present eleven pieces in its part of the programme. Among them are works representing the Baroque period – such as two movements from Johann Sebastian Bach’s motet Jesu, meine Freude – and Romanticism, such as Franz Schubert’s Gesang der Geister über den Wassern. Erdbibdem is a work by the contemporary Latvian composer, Ēriks Ešenvalds. It will not be the only composition representing contemporary music. This group also includes Weltuntergang by Thomas Löffler, Lacrimosa from Requiem by Andrew Lloyd Webber, two pieces by the Indian artist Allah Rakha Rahman: Wedding Qawwali and Três Cantos Nativos dos Indios Kraó. Basel is a composition by the late Rudolf Jaggi – an artist associated with the musical life of the eponymous city.
Another Swiss composer featured in the programme will be Carlo Boller, whose piece Le Vigneron will be performed by the Knabenkantorei Basel. Film music will be represented by Cerf-volant from the film Les Choristes, written by French composer Bruno Coulais. Alan Menken’s Seize the Day comes from the musical The Paperboys, while He Lives in You – from the album Rhythm of the Pride Lands, the musical sequel to The Lion King. This is a joint work by Lebo M, Jay Rifkin and Mark Mancina. The joint performance of both choirs will feature sacred music by Bruckner and Mozart: Bruckner's Locus iste and Mozart’s Ave verum corpus.