Sir Paolo Tosti at the British Royal Court

Maciej Kułakowski
In 2015 at the age of 19, Maciej won 1st Prize and a Special Award at the Lutoslawski International Cello Competition. He was a Laureate in the Finals of the 2017 Queen Elisabeth Competition in Brussels, and a prize winner at the 2019 YCAT International Auditions in London.
In 2022 he completed his studies at Kronberg Academy with Wolfgang Emanuel Schmidt. Highlights this season include concerts at Wigmore Hall, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Pierre Boulez Saal, Philharmonie Köln, Casals Forum in Kronberg or Schloss Elmau. As soloist he appears with Poznań Philharmonic Orchestra, Olsztyn Philharmonic Orchestra, Opole Philharmonic Orchestra, Toruń Symphonic Orchestra and Polish Baltic Philharmonic. This season Maciej also takes part in YCAT 40th Anniversary European Tour and returns as a Faculty Guest to Morningside Music Bridge in Boston, USA. In 2022 Delphian Records released his debut album of French music “Beau soir” to critical acclaim. He went on to record Penderecki’s complete solo cello music that was released in 2023.
Maciej has performed widely as soloist highlights including the Warsaw Philharmonic, Baltic Philharmonic, Sinfonietta Cracovia, London Mozart Players, Silesian Philharmonic, Deutsches Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, Brussels Philharmonic, Calgary Philharmonic and the Klassiche Philharmonie Bonn at the Laieszhalle Hamburg. He has been fortunate to work with conductors like Krzysztof Penderecki, Frank Braley, Eivind Gullberg Jensen, Stéphane Denève, Paweł Przytocki and Marek Moś among many others.
An avid chamber musician he has taken part in festivals across Europe, and participated in the Piatigorsky Cello Festival in Los Angeles, Kronberg Festival, Moritzburg Festival, Cello Biennale Amsterdam, Seiji Ozawa Festival in Japan, Krzysztof Penderecki Festival, Munich Stars & Rising Stars. At the World’s Edge in New Zealand and Beijing Super Cello Festival. Collaborations include Daniel Müller-Schott, Viviane Hagner, Kian Soltani, Giovanni Sollima, Mischa, Lily and Sascha Maisky, Charles Neidich, Arnold Steinhardt, Emanuel Ax, Jan Vogler and Lawrence Power.
Moniuszko” Academy of Music in Gdańsk, Mannheim University and the “Franz Liszt” University of Music in Weimar, prior to entering the Kronberg Academy.
Maciej plays a Giovanni Battista Ruggeri Cello made in Cremona, 1700 on loan from a Charitable Trust.

He studied piano at the Luigi Boccherini Musical Institute of Lucca, before entering the Luigi Cherubini Conservatory of Florence, where he obtained the diplomas in choral conducting, harpsichord and organ. He also gained an honours diploma in orchestral conducting from the Santa Cecilia Conservatory in Rome.
Between 1984 and 1989, Marco Balderi worked as an assistant to many distinguished conductors, including Claudio Abbado, Riccardo Chailly, Carlo Maria Giulini, Herbert von Karajan, James Levine, Zubin Mehta, Riccardo Muti, Giuseppe Patanè, and Wolfgang Sawallisch, in venues such as the Florence Opera, the Teatro alla Scala or the Salzburg Festival.
Marco Balderi began his career as orchestral conductor after winning the International Competitions in Salzburg, Besançon and Alessandria. Foreign tours have taken him to Austria, Belgium, China, South Korea, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, India, Mexico, Japan, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Spain, Switzerland, Taiwan, and the USA, where he conducted more than 90 orchestras such as the Radio France Orchestra, the New Symphony Orchestra of Boston, the RAI Symphony Orchestras of Milan, Rome and Turin, the Italian Swiss Radio and Television Orchestra, the Metropolitan Orchestra of Tokyo, the Orchestras of the Cagliari, Bologna, Rome and Verona Theatres, the Radio and Television Orchestra of Moscow, the European Orchestra of Vienna, the Warsaw National Opera, the Radio and Television Orchestra of Bucarest, the Accademia Santa Cecilia Orchestra of Rome, the Padova Chamber Orchestra, the Deutsche Oper Orchestra of Berlin, the Paris Opera Orchestra, and the St. Gallen Symphony Orchestra.
His repertoire includes over 200 symphonic works, with the complete cycles of the symphonies by Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms, Tchaikovsky and Schumann, and 60 operas. Twentieth-century and new music occupies a prominent place in his career, with premieres of works by Berio, D'Amico, Donatoni, Ferrero, Glass, Ligeti, Sciarrino, Testoni, Xenakis. He has recorded Casella’s “La Giara” and Respighi’s “Christus”. Highlights in his career have included Mascagni’s “Satanic Rhapsody” in Livorno and Bologna and Menotti’s “The Wedding Day” (a live performance for the opening of the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul).
As pianist/conductor Marco Balderi has performed in Italy, Poland, Spain, Taiwan, France, Japan, South Korea (concertos for piano and orchestra by Bach and Mozart). He appeared as accompanist in vocal recitals with Andrea Bocelli, Renato Bruson, José Cura, Ghena Dimitrova, Maureen Forrester, Barbara Frittoli, Nicolai Gedda, Nicolai Ghiaurov, Giuseppe Giacomini, Nicola Martinucci, Mariana Nicolesco, Leo Nucci, Luciano Pavarotti and Cesare Siepi. He served as Artistic Director of the Ongakoyoku Festival in Niigata, Japan and of the Puccini Festival in Torre del Lago. In Paris he conducted in concert Luciano Pavarotti with Charles Aznavour.
In recent years he has conducted “Madama Butterfly” at the Deutsche Oper in Berlin and the Opéra Bastille in Paris (dir. Bob Wilson), “La Bohème” at the Teatro dell'Opera in Rome, Toulon, Bordeaux and in Fano (dir. Luciano Pavarotti), “La Traviata” in Florence, “L'Elisir d'amore” at the Royal Opera de Wallonie in Liège, Seoul and Budapest National Opera, an opera gala at the Tchaikovsky Concert Hall in Moscow with the Russian National Orchestra, “Carmen” in Warsaw with Denyce Graves and “Falstaff” in Łódź, Poland with Renato Bruson. He also worked extensively in South Korea, with productions of “Lucia di Lammermoor”, “La Bohème”, “Madama Butterfly”, “Carmen”, “Rigoletto”, “Tosca”, “La Traviata” and “Turandot: at the Seoul Arts Center (2013-17).
His honours include the Premio Pegasus Award (1994) and the prestigious Tutor Campus Castle Award from the Rome Academy of Fine Arts (1998).

Simon Zhu is an extraordinary young violinist with a versatile repertoire. Born in Tübingen in 2001, he received his first violin lesson at the age of 6. His exceptional talent was recognized early on and he soon began taking lessons from renowned professors. He studied at the "Mozarteum” Salzburg with Wonji Kim-Ozim, with Prof. Tomasz Tomaszewski at the "Julius Stern” Institue of the University of Arts in Berlin. He is currently studying with Prof. Ana Chumachenko at the Munich Academy of Music & Theatre and is receiving private lessons from Ning Feng. He was academist at the Liechtenstein Academy, "Hope” Music Academy and the "Walter Stauffer” Academy Cremona, where he worked with Salvatore Accardo. Masterclasses with Wolfgang Marschner, Reiner Kussmaul, Boris Kuschnir, Petru Munteanu, Krzysztof Węgrzyn, Igor Ozim, Ingolf Turban, and Paul Roczek rounded off his musical education.
He won First Prize at the 13th International "Georg Philip Telemann” Competition in Poznań, Poland in 2016, he received the "Bruno Frey” Music Prize awarded by the "Bruno Frey” Foundation, Ochsenhausen. In 2017 he won First Prize at the 17th International Violin Competition in Kloster Schöntal. At the Valsesia Musica, 34th International Violin Competition 2018 he won First Prize, First Prize at the Zhuhai Mozart Competition 2019 and First Prize at the 7th International Chamber Music Competition in Bydgoszcz 2020, Poland, with his duo partner, Adam Tomaszewski. In May 2021, he won Second Prize at the Menuhin Competition in Richmond, Virginia, and the Mozart Prize and the European Community EMCY Award for his outstanding performance at the Menuhin Competition. In October 2023 he won 1st Prize at the International Violin Competition "Premio Paganini” in Genoa. Italy, and the Special Prize for the best Paganini concerto performance, as well as a number of important concert engagements – including rare opportunity to perform on Paganini's own violin "Il Cannone” by Giuseppe Guarneri del Gesù from 1743.
Simon Zhu made his debut at the Berlin Philharmonie in 2015, since then, has performed there several times as a soloist with orchestra. He has given concerts in Germany, England, France, Belgium, Poland, Romania, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Korea, and China performing with orchestras, including the London Symphony Orchestra, the Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields, the Berlin Symphony Orchestra and the Salzburg Chamber Soloists. On 15th October 2024 Simon performed with the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Sir Antonio Pappano at the Guildhall in London using the "Il Cannone” of Paganini, in front of The King, His Majesty Charles III, who received Simon after the concert. He will soon perform with the Teatro alla Scala Orchestra, Teatro La Fenice Orchestra, Orchestra of the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Gran Teatro di San Carlo Orchestra, Marseille Philharmonic, Tjanjin Symphony, Wuhan Philharmonic, China Philharmonic and Guangzhou Symphony. He will give concerts in Teatro alla Scala, Milan, in Dubai Opera, Royal Opera House Muscat, British Guildhall, Madrid Prado Museum.
Simon Zhu plays on Zosimo Bergonzi's violin (Cremona around 1760), generously loaned from the Stretton Society.

Stanisław Daniel Kotliński
He studied at the Gdańsk Academy of Music with Barbara Iglikowska, specializing in Italy at the Accademia Chigiana and the Fiesole Academy, under the guidance of the masters: Giorgio Favaretto, Fedora Barbieri, Lajos Kozma, Claudio Desderi and Rolando Panerai. In his youth he was a music journalist, spokesman for the “Solidarność” Union, and a political prisoner in communist Poland. His international singing career began in Florence, where he made his debut in Schönberg's opera „Moses und Aron” conducted by Zubin Mehta. As the protagonist in the role of Eddy he sang in the Italian premiere of the opera "Greek" by M. A. Turnage, at the Festival „Cantiere Internazionale d'Arte” of Montepulciano (also in a TV version for RAI) with the artistic direction of H. W. Henze (1991). At the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino Festival he performed in the first Italian performance of the stage version of Kurt Weill's "Berliner Requiem". His singing activity was interrupted for health reasons for several years, he was a music manager. He was the first superintendent of the Teatro dell'Auditorium al Duomo, for years he has been a musical expert at the Romualdo Del Bianco Foundation in Florence. He has collaborated with Carnegie Hall, Teatro alla Scala; Puccini Festival, Ravenna and Wexford Festival; with Krzysztof Penderecki and the Sinfonia Varsovia, Zubin Mehta and the Israel Philharmonic, James Levine and the Munich Philharmonic, Yakov Kreizberg with the Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo, Jacek Kaspszyk and the Munich Radio Orchestra, Claudio Desderi and the Orchestra di Padova e del Veneto, and Plácido Domingo with the “Arturo Toscanini” Philharmonic. During the years 2009-2024 he performed in many important artistic institutions of the world: in Berlin, Bonn, Alicante, Florence, Doha, Dresden, Jinan, Hangzhou, Muscat, Nanchang, Parma, St. Petersburg, Rome, Mexico City, Bad Kissingen, Martina Franca, Marseille, Milan, Monte-Carlo, Munich, Moscow, Prague, Beijing, Salzburg, Lisbon, Lucerne, Vaduz, Valencia, Warsaw, Vienna, Vilnius and New York. The first Polish artist to perform at the Royal Opera House Muscat in Oman, he sang at the Qatar Opera House for the anniversary of the National Orchestra created by Lorin Maazel. Under the guidance of Lawrence Foster he was Père Laurence in Berlioz's “Roméo et Juliette” with the Gulbenkian Philharmonic. With the Chinese conductor Chen Zuohuang he concluded the season of the NCPA National Performing Art Center in Beijing together with the violinist Ning Feng. He was the first resident artist in the thirty-year history of the Bavarian “Kissinger Sommer” Festival. At the Lucerne festival he was Salieri in the opera "Mozart and Salieri" by Rimsky-Korsakov. For Bayerischer Rundfunk he recorded “L’Elisir d’amore” as Dulcamara. At the Rudolfinum in Prague he performed with the Czech National Philharmonic conducted by Jirí Belohlávek, in Haydn's oratorio „Die Schöpfung”, and in Beethoven's „Missa Solemnis”. For the inauguration of the Verdi year he performed in Munich in the opera "I due Foscari". With the Bamberger Symphoniker conducted by Alain Altinoglu he sang Rossini's "Stabat Mater". He sang with Edita Gruberowa, on the occasion of the 45-year career of the famous soprano, at the Gasteig in Munich and at the Musikverein in Vienna. For Arte TV he recorded Mahler's "Des Knaben Wunderhorn" with Waltraud Meier, the Orchestre Philharmonique de Marseille and Lawrence Foster. He shared concerts with pianists such as Rudolf Buchbinder, Khatia Buniatishvili, Evgeny Bozhanov, Igor Levit, Daniil Trifonov and Lang Lang. During the Dresdner Musikfestspiele he sang Rossini's "Petite Messe Solennelle" conducted by Hans-Christoph Rademann. In Munich he sang with the soprano Olga Peretyatko, at the “Mozarteum” in Salzburg he performed with the American pianist Donald Sulzen. For the conclusion of the Beethoven Festival in Valencia he sang at the Palau de la Musica with the Orchestra de Valencia and Yaron Traub. During the International Festival “Solidarity of Arts” (Gdańsk, 2017), he made his debut as Rocco in Beethoven's opera “Fidelio” conducted by Julien Salemkour. He is one of the founders of the International Festival “Stars & Rising Stars” in Munich, inaugurated in 2017 with Cecilia Bartoli, in which great artists present young musical talents. He held concerts in Bonn for the Beethoven celebrations with the Salzburger Hofmusik Orchestra of Salzburg. He also appeared as the protagonist in Donizetti's operas „The Bell” and „Grass Thursday” to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Warsaw Chamber Opera. He was Lucifer in Alessandro Stradella's "Cantata for the Most Holy Christmas", broadcasted worldwide from the Royal Castle of Warsaw during the Covid period. He carries out an intense teaching activity, is a full professor of musical art in Gdansk, at the „Stanisław Moniuszko” Academy of Music, and has held courses and seminars in Munich, Salzburg, Berlin, Florence, Parma, Pescara, Dresden, Teramo, Saarbrücken, Mexico City and Beijing. He has received important awards and recognitions in Poland and around the world. In 2017, during a ceremony held at the "Salone dei Cinquecento" of Palazzo Vecchio, he was awarded the "Lorenzo il Magnifico European Prize" by the Medici Academy of Florence, already given to illustrious personalities, such as Pavarotti, Panerai, Tebaldi, Eco, Fo, Gassman, Mitoraj, Agnelli, Andreotti, Ciampi, Mitterrand, Brandt and Gorbachov. In 2020 he sang in Salzburg and on tour in China with „Orchester 1756 Salzburg”. In summer 2022 he sang with the Lithuanian National Orchestra and the Vilnius Choir, in the first Lithuanian performance of the opera-oratorio „Marie Magdeleine” by Jules Massenet. 2022 he recorded a CD entitled „Sir Paolo Tosti and his fascinating World of Fin-de-Siècle”, dedicated to the Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II (Tosti, Braga, Bridge, Verdi). He sang in recitals for Tosti's anniversary (2021) in Ortona (Teatro Tosti), in Warsaw (Teatro Nazionale), and in Florence (Teatro Niccolini) in 2023. He performed the repertoire of Gustav Mahler (“Des Knaben Wunderhorn”) with the Zielona Góra Philharmonic conducted by Rafał Kłoczko (2024). To celebrate the centenary of the birth of Rolando Panerai, one of the most legendary Italian baritones of the 20th century, in October 2024 Kotliński participated in the conference dedicated to the Tuscan baritone, also performing a concert "Rolando Panerai in Memoriam" with Marco Balderi in Florence. At the end of the Puccini year he sang a recital at the Italian Institute in Warsaw with Tamara Granat on the piano, entitled "Puccini & Friends". He has recorded for Dux, Foné, Naxos America, Bayerischer Rundfunk, Arte TV, Polish Radiotelevisione, RAI – Italian Radiotelevision, Russian National Television, Chinese CCTV, Qatar TV, Oman TV, for Polish, French, Czech, Swiss and Spanish Radio.

Francesco Paolo Tosti: (b Ortona, 9 April 1846; d Rome, 2 Dec 1916). Italian song composer and singing teacher. He entered the Naples Conservatory in 1858, studying the violin under Pinto and composition under Conti and Mercadante. In 1869, illness and overwork as maestrino at the college enforced a period of convalescence in Ortona. There he wrote Non m’ama più and Lamento d’amore, songs which subsequently became popular but which he initially found difficult to publish. Sgambati helped Tosti establish himself in Rome (where his admirers included D’Annunzio) by composing a ballad for a concert at the Sala Dante which Tosti himself sang in addition to his own works. Princess Margherita of Savoy (later Queen of Italy) was present and immediately appointed him her singing teacher and shortly thereafter curator of the court music archives. Tosti first visited London in 1875, and then made annual spring visits until he settled there in 1880. In the same year he was appointed singing teacher to the royal family, and from 1894 he was professor of singing at the RAM. He became a British subject in 1906, was knighted in 1908, and retired to Italy in 1912.

The songs Forever, Goodbye, Mother, At Vespers, Amore, Aprile, Vorrei morire and That Day were among his earliest successes in England. He was a prolific composer to Italian, French and English texts, with a graceful, fluent melodic style that quickly found favour among singers of drawing-room songs and ballads; the ballad ‘alla Tosti’ also found many imitators. His Vocal Albums, the 15 duets Canti popolari abruzzesi, and later songs such as Mattinata and Serenata all enjoyed great success.

Frank Bridge (1879-1941) was an English composer, violist and conductor. Trained at the Royal College of Music, he wrote orchestral and chamber music, songs and piano works. His style developed from late Romantic lyricism towards a more searching and harmonically adventurous language. He was also the teacher of Benjamin Britten, who paid tribute to him in the Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge.

Gaetano Braga (b Giulianova, nr Teramo, 9 June 1829; d Milan, 21 Nov 1907). Italian cellist and composer. He entered the Naples Conservatory in 1841 to study the cello with Ciandelli and composition with Mercadante, indicating talent in both disciplines. He left in 1852 with the title ‘Maestrino di violoncello’ and made many concert tours of Europe and the USA. In Vienna he was briefly a member of the Mayseder Quartet.

In 1853 his first opera, Alina, was produced at Naples. Over the next 20 years, during which he made Paris and London his principal homes, he composed another eight; though some were staged in Vienna, Paris and Lisbon as well as in Italy, they scarcely fulfilled his early promise, and none remained in the repertory. In 1868 La Scala turned down his Ruy Blas in favour of Marchetti’s version; it remained unperformed and unpublished, colouring his decision to remain abroad for some 30 years, continuing a successful solo playing career besides composing. As a voice teacher Braga was much sought after; he coached Erminia Frezzolini, towards the end of her career, and Adelaide Borghi-Mamo, for whom he also wrote salon works. Braga’s other compositions include orchestral, chamber and vocal music, fantasias on well-known operatic themes, two cello concertos and a method (1878), and salon pieces that enjoyed popularity during his lifetime. Still known is his Leggenda valacca, under the name ‘La Serenata’ or ‘The Angel’s Serenade’, originally a song with cello or violin obbligato; despite describing it themselves as a ‘cloying melody’, in 1914 HMV listed no fewer than four recordings of it made by such prominent artists as Gluck and Zimbalist, and McCormack and Kreisler.

Giuseppe Verdi: (b Roncole, nr Busseto, 9/10 Oct 1813; d Milan, 27 Jan 1901). Italian composer. By common consent he is recognized as the greatest Italian musical dramatist.