Of course Kraków hasn’t got the London Eye, the Tower or London Bridge, and the closest we get to the British capital is our dense fogs. But we do have the Last Night of the Proms in Cracow joining in with the joyful concert at the Royal Albert Hall! On 15 September, the Kraków Opera resounds with arias from operas by Verdi, Puccini and Giordano performed by the soprano Adriana Ferfecka and compositions by Wieniawski and de Sarasate presented by Janusz Wawrowski, one of Poland’s finest violinists and winner of the Frederic Prize in 2017. This year he will be playing the first Stradivarius violin in post-war Poland, dating back to 1685. The concert traditionally closes with a medley of British songs Pomp and Circumstance, Rule Britannia and Jerusalem, and of course God Save the Queen and the Polish national anthem. We will hear the Beethoven Academy Orchestra and the Kraków Opera Choir under the baton of Lee Reynolds – and don’t forget that audience participation is a must! (Barbara Skowrońska)

Pyotr Tchaikovsky Polonaise from the opera Eugene Onegin
Pablo de Sarasate Zigeunerweisen Op. 20
Henryk Wieniawski Allegro con fuoco – Allegro moderato (à la Zingara) from Violin Concerto in D minor No. 2 Op. 22
Giuseppe Verdi È strano... Ah, fors'è lui... Sempre libera from the opera La traviata
Giacomo Puccini Un bel di vedremo from the opera Madame Butterfly
Umberto Giordano La mamma morta from the opera Andrea Chénier
Krzysztof Penderecki Polymorphia
Wojciech Kilar Polonaise from the film Pan Tadeusz
Leonard Bernstein Glitter and Be Gay from the operetta Candide
Franz Lehár Meine Lippen, sie küssen so heiss from the operetta Giuditta
Jules Massenet Meditation from the opera Thaïs
Pablo de Sarasate Zapateado
Antonio Bazzini La ronde des lutins
Edward Elgar Pomp and Circumstance. March No. 1 in D major
Henry Wood Fantasia on British Sea-Songs
Thomas Arne Rule Britannia
Hubert Parry (orch. E. Elgar) Jerusalem
God Save the Queen (arr. B. Britten)
Józef Wybicki Mazurek Dąbrowskiego

Adriana Ferfecka – soprano
Janusz Wawrowski – violin
Beethoven Academy Orchestra
Kraków Opera Choir
Lee Reynolds – conductor