Sinfonietta Cracovia goes to the movies with Glass, Kilar

By David Wright

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Kilar’s music for that film and others, and scores by his near-contemporary Philip Glass, were on the bill Thursday. Playing with energy and precision under conductor Katarzyna Tomala-Jedynak, the group of a dozen-plus players sighed like the wind, pumped out the composers’ shifting rhythms, and filled the dark-walled room with cinematic sound.

Pianist Aleksander Dębicz added evocative keyboard parts where needed, and complemented the motion-picture fare with two of his own compositions.

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Glass’s score for the 2002 film The Hours attracted a lot of attention and an Academy Award nomination. The reason wasn’t hard to tell Thursday night, as pianist Dębicz brought Chopin-like colors to his piano part, pearly in figurations, glistening in chords, and singing in solo lines. The changing textures and fine balances offered more musical rewards than usual for film music performed without the film.

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Full Review can be found on: New York Classical Review.

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