The Kraków Philharmonic Orchestra or the Symphony Orchestra of the Karol Szymanowski Philharmonic ( pl, Orkiestra Symfoniczna Filharmonii im. Karola Szymanowskiego) is a professional

symphony orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, ce ...

based in Kraków, Poland. The national status of the orchestra is reflected in its program of events, including weekly symphonic concerts in the Wawel Royal Castle, or at the

Jagiellonian University The Jagiellonian University (Polish: ''Uniwersytet Jagielloński'', UJ) is a public research university in Kraków, Poland. Founded in 1364 by King Casimir III the Great, it is the oldest university in Poland and the 13th oldest university in ...

famous ''

Collegium Novum The ''Collegium Novum'' (Latin: "New College") is the Neo-Gothic main building of the Jagiellonian University in Kraków, Poland, originally built between the year 1363 and 1365 and after its destruction, rebuilt in between 1873-1887. Based on a ...

'', and at prominent Kraków churches. The company is more active professionally than any other philharmonic orchestra in the country. The Symphony Orchestra, presently residing in the

Kraków Philharmonic The Kraków Philharmonic ( pl, Filharmonia Krakowska) is the primary concert hall in Kraków, Poland. It is one of the largest auditoriums in the city. It consists of the main hall for orchestral performances with 693 seats, and two smaller venu ...

, came into being in 1945. It was the first professional symphony orchestra in postwar Poland, formed at the local

concert hall A concert hall is a cultural building with a stage that serves as a performance venue and an auditorium filled with seats. This list does not include other venues such as sports stadia, dramatic theatres or convention centres that may ...

during the Soviet offensive. The first postwar director as well as the conductor of the historic first performance held on February 3, 1945 (three months before the

end of World War II in Europe The final battle of the European Theatre of World War II continued after the definitive overall surrender of Nazi Germany to the Allies, signed by Field marshal Wilhelm Keitel on 8 May 1945 in Karlshorst, Berlin. After German dictator Adolf H ...

), was Professor

Zygmunt Latoszewski Zygmunt Latoszewski (1902 in Poznań – 1995 in Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vis ...

, survivor of the Warsaw Uprising.

Historical background

Although the attempts to create the first modern-type symphony orchestra in the city go back to the 18th century under the Austrian rule, the professional team was assembled in Kraków only during the imminent collapse of Austria-Hungary (1909), on the initiative of patriotic composer and music director

Feliks Nowowiejski Feliks Nowowiejski (7 February 1877 – 18 January 1946) was a Polish composer, conductor, concert organist, and music teacher. Nowowiejski was born in Wartenburg (today Barczewo) in Warmia in the Prussian Partition of Poland (then admini ...

(b. 1877). Soon after the return of Poland's sovereignty at the end of World War One, the company was reinstated, with an inaugural concert held on May 18, 1919 for the centennial anniversary of

Stanisław Moniuszko Stanisław Moniuszko (; May 5, 1819 – June 4, 1872) was a Polish composer, conductor and teacher. He wrote many popular art songs and operas, and his music is filled with patriotic folk themes of the peoples of the former Polish–Lithuania ...

's birthday, featuring 80 musicians. In 1931 a brand new concert hall ''(pictured)'' was built at Zwierzyniecka street. The resident orchestra was active there until the Nazi-Soviet invasion of Poland, with the last performance held on May 21, 1939, under the direction of Bronisław Wolfstahl.

Artistic profile

the Orchestra has been around for almost sixty years, with a new generation of performers and soloists. It consists of almost one hundred musicians in sixteen sections with five concert-masters whose profiles can be obtained from its official website. In 1962 it was named after composer

Karol Szymanowski Karol Maciej Szymanowski (; 6 October 188229 March 1937) was a Polish composer and pianist. He was a member of the modernist Young Poland movement that flourished in the late 19th and early 20th century. Szymanowski's early works show the inf ...

(1882–1937) whose abundant works the orchestra has performed regularly ever since; along with pieces by another great Polish composer living in Kraków, Krzysztof Penderecki. Penderecki served as the

artistic director An artistic director is the executive of an arts organization, particularly in a theatre or dance company, who handles the organization's artistic direction. They are generally a producer and director, but not in the sense of a mogul, since the ...

of the orchestra in 1988–1990, and from 1993 held the post of its honorary artistic director. Over the years, the Orchestra has made a host of popular recordings, among them, with music by

Dmitri Shostakovich Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich, , group=n (9 August 1975) was a Soviet-era Russian composer and pianist who became internationally known after the premiere of his Symphony No. 1 (Shostakovich), First Symphony in 1926 and was regarded throug ...

, Ignacy Jan Paderewski,

Gaetano Donizetti Domenico Gaetano Maria Donizetti (29 November 1797 – 8 April 1848) was an Italian composer, best known for his almost 70 operas. Along with Gioachino Rossini and Vincenzo Bellini, he was a leading composer of the '' bel canto'' opera style dur ...

, Mieczysław Karłowicz,

, Max Bruch,

Grażyna Bacewicz Grażyna Bacewicz Biernacka (; 5 February 1909 – 17 January 1969) was a Polish composer and violinist. She is the second Polish female composer to have achieved national and international recognition, the first being Maria Szymanowska in the ...

, Henryk Mikołaj Górecki,

and others. The Kraków Philharmonic performed in over 30 foreign countries including in almost all of Europe as well as in Iran, Japan, Canada, South Korea, Lebanon, Turkey and USA. Their concerts were led by the most prominent Polish conductors including

, Bohdan Wodiczko, Witold Rowicki,

Kazimierz Kord Kazimierz Kord (18 November 1930 – 29 April 2021) was a Polish conductor. Between 1949 and 1955, he studied piano at the Leningrad Conservatory. He also studied at the Academy of Music in Kraków. He held major conducting positions with the ...

, Jerzy Maksymiuk, Krzysztof Penderecki,

Antoni Wit Antoni Wit (born February 7, 1944) is a Polish conductor, composer, lawyer and professor at the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music. Between 2002 and 2013, he served as the artistic director of the National Philharmonic in Warsaw. Life and career ...

, and from abroad: Hermann Abendroth, Nikolai Anosov,

Roger Désormière Roger Désormière () (13 September 1898 – 25 October 1963) was a French conductor. He was an enthusiastic champion of contemporary composers, but also conducted performances of early eighteenth century French music. Life and career Désormièr ...

Dean Dixon Charles Dean Dixon (January 10, 1915November 3, 1976) was an American conductor. Career Dixon was born in the upper-Manhattan neighborhood of Harlem in New York City to parents who had earlier migrated from the Caribbean. He studied conducting ...

, Antal Dorati,

Christopher Hogwood Christopher Jarvis Haley Hogwood (10 September 194124 September 2014) was an English conductor, harpsichordist, writer, and musicologist. Founder of the early music ensemble the Academy of Ancient Music, he was an authority on historically info ...

, Konstantin Ivanov,

Paweł Klecki Paul Kletzki (born Paweł Klecki; 21 March 1900 – 5 March 1973) was a Polish conductor and composer. Biography Born in Łódź, Kletzki joined the Łódź Philharmonic at the age of fifteen as a violinist. After serving in the First World Wa ...

, Kirill Kondrashin,

Rafael Kubelik Rafael may refer to: * Rafael (given name) or Raphael, a name of Hebrew origin * Rafael, California * Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, Israeli manufacturer of weapons and military technology * Hurricane Rafael, a 2012 hurricane Fiction * Rafa ...

, Gilbert Levine, Jean Martinon, Sir John Pritchard, Helmuth Rilling, Jerzy Semkow,

Giuseppe Sinopoli Giuseppe Sinopoli (; 2 November 1946 – 21 April 2001) was an Italian conductor and composer. Biography Sinopoli was born in Venice, Italy, and later studied at the Benedetto Marcello Conservatory in Venice under Ernesto Rubin de Cervin ...

, and

Carlo Zecchi Carlo Zecchi (8 July 190331 August 1984) was an Italian pianist, music teacher and conductor. Zecchi was born in Rome. A pupil of F. Baiardi for piano and of L. Refice and A. Bustini for composition, he began his career as a concert pianist at o ...

. A number of world-renowned soloists also performed with the orchestra. The most prominent include

Victoria de los Ángeles Victoria de los Ángeles López García (1 November 192315 January 2005) was a Catalan Spanish operatic lyric soprano and recitalist whose career began after the Second World War and reached its height in the years from the mid-1950s to the mid- ...

, Cathy Berberian, Stanislav Bunin,

Zara Dolukhanova Zara Aleksandrovna Dolukhanova ( hy, Զարուհի Դոլուխանյան, russian: Зара Александровна Долуханова; 15 March 1918 – 4 December 2007) was a Soviet Armenian mezzo-soprano who achieved fame performing on ...

Dorothy Dorow Dorothy Dorow (22 August 1930 - 15 April 2017) was an English soprano, mostly active in the contemporary vocal music field. She debuted in her birthplace London in 1958. She has sung world-premieres of works by such composers as György Ligeti, ...

Sidney Harth Sidney Harth (5 October 1925 in Cleveland – 15 February 2011 in Pittsburgh) was an American violinist and conductor. Education Harth was born in Cleveland, Ohio. He graduated from the Cleveland Institute of Music and studied with Joseph Knitze ...

, Gary Karr, Nigel Kennedy, Leonid Kogan, Gidon Kremer, Witold Małcużyński, Yehudi Menuhin, Midori Gotō, Shlomo Mintz, Tatiana Nikolayeva, Garrick Ohlsson, David and

Igor Oistrakh Igor Davidovich Oistrakh (russian: И́горь Дави́дович О́йстрах; uk, Ігор Давидович Ойстрах 27 April 1931 – 14 August 2021) was a Soviet and Russian violinist. He was described by ''Encyclopædia Brita ...

, Vlado Perlemuter,

Maurizio Pollini Maurizio Pollini (born 5 January 1942) is an Italian pianist. He is known for performances of compositions by Beethoven, Chopin and Debussy, among others. He has also championed and performed works by contemporary composers such as Pierre Boulez ...

, Ruggiero Ricci,

Mstislav Rostropovich Mstislav Leopoldovich Rostropovich, (27 March 192727 April 2007) was a Russian cellist and conductor. He is considered by many to be the greatest cellist of the 20th century. In addition to his interpretations and technique, he was wel ...

, Artur Rubinstein, Isaac Stern, Henryk Szeryng, Narciso Yepes, Yo-Yo Ma, and

Teresa Żylis-Gara Teresa Żylis-Gara (23 January 1930 – 28 August 2021) was a Polish operatic soprano who enjoyed a major international career from the 1950s through the 1990s. She made her stage debut at the Opera Krakowska in 1958 in the title role of Moni ...

Notes and references

{{DEFAULTSORT:Krakow Philharmonic Orchestra Musical groups established in 1909 Polish orchestras Culture in Kraków Symphony orchestras Arts organizations established in 1909 1909 establishments in Austria-Hungary pl:Filharmonia Krakowska