Conductor

Conducting, too, is an activity that I am passionate about and to which I devote a large part of my time. However, it is not about conducting in the classical sense of the word, with the baton in hand. What I mean is the historical way of conducting orchestras in the symphonic as well as operatic and oratorio repertoire, that is playing-directing. This was the prevailing and universal performance practice in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries.

At this point, I would like to express my conviction that the performance of early music in a manner consistent with historical performance practice does not always require the use of period instruments. From the point of view of my play-direct experience, collaboration with contemporary philharmonic orchestras in the eighteenth and nineteenth-century repertoire may give equally excellent artistic results in terms of historical performance as in the case of the ensembles playing on period instruments. The achievements of several generations of explorers of the early sound world and historical interpretation, can be successfully adopted in artistic work with musicians playing contemporary instruments. I believe that after the “Baroque revolution” of the second half of the twentieth century, the time has come to synthesize the achievements of Baroque revolutionaries and the experience and artistry of contemporary musicians.

I have always been interested in the history and development of the orchestra understood as a phenomenon. I have been looking for answers to the questions how a big chamber ensemble differs from a small orchestra, what the determinants of an artistic ensemble are, what ensemble can be called an orchestra, when and where the orchestra was formed, and in which music centers its development took place. In addition, I have striven to answer the questions who the orchestra served, what was the number of members of orchestral groups, what was the proportion of instruments and the orchestra's setting when the orchestra emancipated itself, that is, it liberated itself from the ecclesiastical and court service functions. How did the orchestral repertoire change over the centuries, what did the rehearsals and the performance practice look like, who conducted the orchestra? For these and many other questions I tried and still try to get the most accurate answers.

My practice in leading orchestras (let's call it play-direct), as well as the study of available sources or studies on this subject have allowed me to work out my own way as a violinist - conductor. The basis of my investigations is the orchestral model from the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries, which I consider to be the most interesting and suitable for that matter. It was a time when the orchestra as a phenomenon saw many comments, opinions and descriptions. From the preserved documents from the era, concerning, for example, pay, we know how large the orchestral ensembles were at that time. From iconographic sources, it is clear exactly how the members of the orchestra were deployed on the stage. There was a different setting in the orchestral pit, different in concerts, and still different in the church chorus, of course. The sound proportions were very often different to the contemporary orchestra. The arrangements of strings and wind instruments at the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries were also different from the one that functions today. What is very important to me, also the role of the orchestra leader was different. Until the times of Mendelssohn, violinists – conductors were predominant, who sometimes play-directed very large orchestral ensembles. This concerned not only symphonic, but also operatic and oratorio projects. For example, the 12 ‘London’ Symphonies, Sinfonia Concertante or the last opera L'anima del filosofo by Joseph Haydn were written for the violinist Johann Peter Solomon and his orchestra, which Solomon play-directed. The first Dublin performance of the Messiah by George Frideric Handel was also play-directed by the violinist Matthew Dubourg. It should also be remembered that the violinist Karol Lipiński was the director and conductor of the Lviv Opera at the beginning of the 19th century.

During concerts with philharmonic or Baroque orchestras, I always try to implement historical directions in terms of the number of performers, stage settings and historical performance practices. Once again, I would like to emphasize that a very important performance aspect for me is the combination of the contemporary philharmonic with historical performance practice, which at the moment enjoys great popularity in the world. My repertoire in this field covers the years 1700–1850, with particular emphasis on the symphonies of the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries. However, I do not shy away from oratorio or opera.