Christmas dreams

The Christmas season is a time for reflection. That festive time brings back childhood memories along with the spirit of mystery, expectations, and dreams of Christmas presents. Regardless of our age, for a moment we can recapture our childhood feelings. One of the most iconic classical Christmas pieces almost everyone has at least a passing familiarity with since their childhood is Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker ballet. Its arrangement for string orchestra accompanied by a single woodwind section, harp, and percussion will be the main course of the evening. The work will be preceded by “Simple Symphony,” a charming chamber symphony based on eight musical themes which Benjamin Britten wrote in childhood. It is therefore not strictly a Christmas piece, although Christmas time was certainly important for the composer, who composed perhaps the most famous Christmas series, “A Ceremony of Carols” for boys’ choir and harp. The harp, whose sounds can transport us into other dimensions, will also be the heroine of two dances – a sacred and a secular one – by Claude Debussy. Sinfonia Varsovia’s Christmas series will culminate with a concert finale featuring unusual, Bach-like versions of Polish carols.

Łukasz Strusiński

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