Let the music play

One hundred years ago this November the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra held its inaugural concert. Back then, patrons crowded the ornate concert hall on ulica Jasna to listen to an all-Polish program starring the legendary pianist and composer Ignacy Jan Paderewski.

And history is now about to repeat itself: Patrons will again fill the aisles of the hall on Nov. 5, and again they will listen to the works of Paderewski in a special concert created for the Philharmonic's centenary celebrations, which have been running all year.

"We wanted to create a concert that was in some ways similar to the Philharmonic's first concert," said Philharmonic promotions manager Lech Dzierżanowski.

But the Philharmonic, considered to be the grand dame of the Polish classical music scene, is finding out that even turning the ripe old age of 100 doesn't mean she always gets the respect she deserves. Because of the government's recent budget crisis, the Philharmonic's funding was cut by 10%, so the rest of the year's birthday celebrations have been reduced. Numerous concerts, including one by the Tokyo String Quartet and two performances led by the renowned conductor Marek Janowski have been cancelled.

"Really, to cover this funding cut we should have cancelled all the concerts we had planned for the rest of this year, but we haven't," Dzierżanowski said. "But in this situation, we now really have some serious money problems, but I hope we can get through this."

The Philharmonic has already got through many tough times: During World War II, the orchestra lost more than half its performers and the concert hall was reduced to rubble. Under socialism, while the arts flourished, the Philharmonic still had to pay some political dues by celebrating political anniversaries and playing the works of composers from Eastern bloc allies. And although the Philharmonic was allowed to tour internationally every few years, the orchestra always risked the occasional defection to the West.

These days, the big battle is attracting an audience.

"I think it's becoming harder than it was before," Dzierżanowski said. "I suppose the main reason is that people who have money, haven't got time, or they are not interested in music. And the people who want to come to the concerts don't have enough money."

This year the Philharmonic, which also relies on funding from businesses such as telecoms company PTK Centertel and Bank Handlowy, started providing cheaper tickets to attract more people.

Dzierżanowski estimates that most concerts are about 80% full, but he says that because the Philharmonic performs so many concerts each year, people are being more selective.

"Under the old (socialist) regime we could count on some top foreign artists coming here because they understood the situation and how tough it was," Dzierżanowski said. "They would come for the people and they would lower their prices.

"But now it's a commercial market like everywhere else. I think also sometimes performers are afraid of conditions here because they don't know a lot about Poland, so sometimes they want even more money than their usual fee."

Celia Barnes