During his lifetime Odysseus was one of Bruch’s most frequently performed and highly regarded works. It corresponded well with a wave of patriotic euphoria across the country created by the German unification. It was a very successful performance of Odysseus in Liverpool in 1877 that led three years later to Bruch’s appointment as Director of the Philharmonic Society there.
Today, the fame of the oratorio has been shadowed by Bruch’s other work: Violin Concerto in G minor Op. 26. However full both of drama and beautiful melody, Odysseus certainly deserves to be better known, with its rich orchestral and choral writing and its interesting take on the Odyssey.
The concert at the Kraków Philharmonic with excellent soloists and its orchestra and choir will be led by its first guest conductor Łukasz Borowicz, known for restoring forgotten, neglected and rarely performed to the contemporary audiences.
Max Bruch Odysseus Op. 41
Natalia Rubiś – soprano
Anna Bernacka – mezzo-soprano
Mariusz Godlewski – baritone
Kraków Philharmonic Orchestra and Choir
Piotr Piwko – choirmaster
Łukasz Borowicz – conductor
