CANDLELIGHT CONCERT - LA BELLE NUIT | JAGODA SOKOŁOWSKA O'DONOVAN | JARYNA RAK | EWA PELWECKA
Achievements
La Belle Nuit – a beautiful night where music speaks of love.
This candlelit concert series is devoted to the art of classical vocal music – from the passions of the Baroque to the reflections of our own time. The evening features some of the most beautiful arias and songs, often inspired by the theme of love, performed by exceptional artists in an intimate and luminous atmosphere.
Held in the elegant Fryderyk Concert Hall in Warsaw, these events echo the spirit of 19th-century musical salons of Poland and Europe, where music, poetry, and conversation intertwined. During the intermission, guests are offered a glass of sparkling wine – a nod to the refined rituals of the past.
La Belle Nuit is more than a concert. It is an encounter with beauty that lingers long after the final note fades.
Please arrive 15 minutes before the concert.
Jagoda Sokołowska‑O’Donovan – mezzo-soprano, flautist, cultural manager, architect of the Fryderyk Concert Hall
A versatile artist and cultural entrepreneur, she graduated with distinction from the Academy of Music in Kraków. Prizewinner of national and international competitions both as a flautist and singer, she has performed across Europe, Asia, and North America. Her artistry was praised by Jerzy Waldorff – an eminent Polish music critic, essayist, and cultural advocate – who described her as “an exceptionally gifted artist… an outstanding musical personality.” She is the founder and director of the Fryderyk Concert Hall in Warsaw – a unique venue inspired by the spirit of 19th-century salons, where she merges artistic vision with contemporary cultural leadership.
Yaryna Rak - soprano
A graduate of the Mykola Lysenko Lviv National Music Academy in the piano class of Maria Kruszelnicka and in the operatic singing class of Volodymyr Ignatenko and Ludmila Bozhko. She also completed an artistic internship in the operatic singing class of Izabela Kłosińska at the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in Warsaw. Winner of piano and vocal competitions nationally and internationally. A scholarship recipient from the President of Ukraine and the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage of Poland. She taught a chamber singing class at the music academy in Lviv for several years, a master class in interpretation and vocal technique at the University of Tromsø. Currently, she is a coach for soloists at the Grand Theatre - National Opera in Warsaw. Collaborates with numerous festivals, philharmonics, and theaters nationally and internationally as a vocal coach and operatic singer.
Ewa Pelwecka - piano
She is a graduate of the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in Warsaw.
From 1994 to 2012 she worked as a pianist and harpsichordist at the Warsaw Chamber Opera, performing basso continuo and solo parts in operas by Mozart, Rossini, Cimarosa, Galuppi, Donizetti, Verdi, as well as in works by Kurpiński, Elsner, Karłowicz, Kronenberg and others.
Since 2012 she has been working at the Grand Opera Theatre as a soloist tutor.
At the same time, she conducts a wide range of concerts in the country and abroad.
She performs as a soloist as well as a chamber musician, collaborating with outstanding musicians, in particular with leading singers of the Polish opera scene.
Concert program
The program includes works from baroque to late romanticism – duets about love, separation, Spanish songs by Manuel de Falla based on popular folk songs
GEORG F. HAENDEL (1685-1759)
- "Io t’abraccio„ – duet from the opera Rodelinda
DOMENICO SCARLATTI (1685-1757)
- O cessate di piagarmi
GEORG F. HAENDEL (1685-1759)
- Aria "Lascia cio pianga" from the opera Rinaldo
CHRISTOPH W. GLUCK (1714-1787)
- Aria Euridice "Che fiero momento" from the opera Orfeo ed Euridice
ROBERT SCHUMANN (1810-1856)
- Mädchenlieder op.103 nr 1- "Mailied"
- Mädchenlieder op.103 nr 2 "Frühlingslied"
- Mädchenlieder op.103 nr 3 - "An due Nachtigall”
- Mädchenlieder op.103 nr.4 - „An den Abendstern"
FELIX MENDELSSOHN BARTHOLDY (1809-1847)
- Ich wollt'eine Lieb'ergösse sich op.63 nr 1
- Abschiedslied der Zugvögel op. 63 nr 2
- Herbstlied op. 63 nr. 4
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JACQUES OFFENBACH (1819-1880)
- Barcarolle „Belle nuit, ô nuit d’amour”
JEAN PAUL ÉGIDE MARTINI (1741-1816)
- Plaisir d'amour
CLAUDE DEBUSSY (1862-1918)
- Nuit d’étoiles
GABRIEL FAUREÉ (1845-1924)
- Puisqu’ici -bas toute àme…
MIECZYSŁAW KARŁOWICZ (1876-1909)
- Z Erotyków op. 3 no. 2
- Mów do mnie jeszcze op. 3 no. 1
- Pamiętam ciche, jasne, złote dnie op. 1 no. 5
FRYDERYK CHOPIN (1810-1849)
- Nocturne in c-sharp minor op. posth
JOHANNES BRAHMS (1833-1897)
- Klänge op. 66 no. 1
- Die Schwestern op. 61 no. 1
- Klausterfraulein op.61 no. 2
- Die Boten der liebe op. 61 no. 4
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Please note that the concert program is subject to change