„Zagajewski in music” project
23.02.2020
The world premiere of works composed to Adam Zagajewski’s poems by the Argentinian composer Pablo Ortiz took place on 23rd of February 2020 in Koncertkirken.
Adam Zagajewski is the greatest living Polish poet and essaist. The „Zagajewski in music” project, was inspired by his works and titled after his poem „Where the breath is” (Tam gdzie oddech). The world premiere performed by Theatre of Voices accompanied by The Smith Quartet (strings) took place on 23 February 2020 in the intimate setting of Copenhagen’s Koncertkiren. The programme was filled with works composed by Argentinian author Pablo Ortiz, who was also present at the concert. He got inspired by Zagajewski’s poems about travels. P. Ortiz wrote music to “Early hours”, „Great ships”, „En route” and the eponymous “Where the breath is”.
As introduction to the performance, Adam Zagajewski and Pablo Ortiz discussed connections of music and poetry. Editor Ivan Rod offered moderation. Adam Zagajewski underlined that music, especially classical music, was always close to his heart as “the energy of the soul”. Pablo Ortiz dwelled upon the uniqueness of Zagajewski’s poetry and the sources of his musical inspiration. The composer pointed out to the universality of the works written by the Polish author, in particular the fact that anyone can identify with it.
