Poland celebrates Penderecki 85th birthday with festival

Associated Press

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland's leading composer and conductor, Krzysztof Penderecki, is celebrating his 85th birthday with a weeklong festival of his music in Warsaw.

A concert of Penderecki's 2nd Cello Concerto and his "Songs of Reflection" and Nostalgia are opening the festival on Friday at the National Philharmonic.

Running until Nov. 23, the festival features symphonies, choral works and compositions for voice. Concerts also are being held at the Royal Castle, the Royal Theater and at the Polish capital's opera house.

Among the works performed will be the choir-and-orchestra pieces "Dies Illa" and "Credo," and the violin concerto "Metamorphosen", which was written for and will be played by German violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter with Penderecki conducting.

Other performers include cellist Ivan Monighetti, violinist Agata Szymczewska and conductors Leonard Slatkin and John Axelrod.

Born Nov. 23, 1933, in Debica, southern Poland, Penderecki uses unconventional forms and sounds that evoke classical associations.

______

This story has been corrected to show the violinist's first name is spelled Anne-Sophie, not Ann-Sophie and the concerto's title is "Metamorphosen", not Matamorphosen.