Renowned conductor Marek Janowski has taken to the podium with the Monte-Carlo Philharmonic Orchestra for the final time in his career, marking the end of a long association with the ensemble he once led…
Janowski, who served as the OPMC’s artistic and musical director from 2000 to 2005, returned to Monaco on Sunday for an emotional performance in the Salle des Princes at the Grimaldi Forum.
For his farewell appearance, the maestro chose Anton Bruckner’s monumental Fifth Symphony, a work rooted in the German Romantic tradition and noted for its intricate structure and counterpoint.
The performance lasted around one hour and 20 minutes without interruption, with Janowski conducting the entire work from memory, without a score.
His interpretation brought the audience together with an orchestra he knows particularly well, more than two decades after the beginning of his tenure as its musical director.
As the final reverberations of Bruckner’s great Romantic symphony faded through the Salle des Princes, they seemed to carry with them the echoes of Janowski’s long relationship with the orchestra. The maestro and musicians were greeted by rapturous applause and a prolonged standing ovation from the audience.
Janowski responded with a warm tribute to the musicians he once led, praising the exceptional quality of the Monte-Carlo Philharmonic and reflecting on what it represents to the region. His parting message was one of genuine affection and pride: Monaco and the French Riviera, he said, should be proud to have an orchestra of such quality.
Image: OPMC