The stars of this year’s Nostalgia were Tigran Mansurian (who was personally present) and Elliott Carter. It is difficult to identify two more remote personalities, but presenting them together did not sound shocking, especially with this choice of performers. First there were two pieces by Carter: Tempo e Tempi, songs to some Italian poems, featuring the excellent soloist Natalia Rubiś-Krzeszowiak (whom I have listened to before in Świdnica singing Schubert; apparently, this was her first encounter with contemporary music, but this was hard to believe when you saw how confident she felt about it), followed by Sound Fields, a tasteful string miniature. I always thought that Carter’s music was pure speculation and mathematics, but I was very happy to be disappointed by these pieces.
Dorota Szwarcman, Różne nastroje w Poznaniu, 26.10.2014
The warm, deep sound and the lyrical phrase of the cello harmonised perfectly with the ascetical piano accompaniment. In Capriccio for cello solo, Anja Lechner showed her faultless skills and her ability to convincingly interpret Tigran Mansurian’s distinct music. Everyone who attended the concert must agree that Anja and Tigran are the perfect duet.
Ewa Chorościan, Magdalena Nowicka, Nostalgia na dwa głosy, MeaKultura
To say about Anja Lechner that she has a beautiful timbre would be an unfair simplification – even in the simplest of phrases, she operated with an impressively extensive palette and a myriad of the most minuscule hues. Using immaculate sound emission combined with a perfectly refined choice of expression devices, she very logically guided listeners also through Tigran Mansurian’s two-movement Capriccio for cello solo.
Magdalena Lubocka, Cztery struny melancholii, Kultura Poznań, 25.10.2014
Tigran Mansurian’s Requiem, dedicated to the victims of the Armenian Genocide of nearly a century ago, was an ideal culmination of the three-day-long journey across divergent emotions, sounds and cultures. Also present were two pieces by Elliott Carter: Sound Fields and Tempo e Tempi, performed by the l'Autunno Orchestra, which revealed a different, slightly calmer, mysterious and extremely magical aspect of the American composer.
Dominika Gracz, “Pożegnanie z muzyczną ucztą. Zakończył się Festiwal Nostalgia”, Gazeta Wyborcza, 26.10.2014
Maciej Grzybowski treated contemporary music aficionados to a real feast. Under his fingers, we heard as many different emotions, moods and sounds as contemporary music can offer.
Aleksandra Bliźniuk, NOSTALGIA. Przepływ myśli i uczuć, Kultura Poznań, 27.10.2014
The concert was held as a tribute, a moment to evoke the music through the suffering of many thousands of people in situations of war, refugees and victims of terrorism and genocide. Therefore, the repertoire was specially chosen to evoke in the audience a sense of unease.
El concierto se celebraba como un homenaje, un momento para evocar a través de la música el sufrimiento de tantos miles de personas en situaciones de guerra, refugiados y víctimas del terrorismo y genocidios. Por este motivo, el repertorio fue especialmente escogido para evocar en los asistentes una sensación de desasosiego.
Eva Represa, Concierto en el Nostalgia Festival. Mansurian y Carter. Poznan (Polonia), www.operaworld.es, 28.10.2014