The Witold Lutoslawski National Forum of Music (Narodowe Forum Muzyki) opened its doors in 2015. An enormously impressive, state of the art venue, it is home to the Wroclaw Philharmonic, the NFM Leopoldinum Orchestra, the Wroclaw Baroque Ensemble, the International Festival Wratislava Cantans, the NFM Boys Choir, the Lutoslawski Quartet and many other ensembles, as well as host to festivals that celebrate all manner of different musics, be that new music, jazz, choral, chamber and orchestral, electronic music, and much else besides. Described by Sir Simon Rattle as ‘one of the best concert halls in Europe’, the NFM has, over a short period of time, developed into one of the largest and most modern music venues in Poland, an achievement that was recently recognised with an International Classic Music Award for special achievement in 2023.

One of the jewels in the crown of the National Forum of Music is the NFM Choir, formed in 2006 by Andrzej Kosendiak, and directed by the indefatigable Agnieska Frankӧw-Zelazny until 2021. Under her tireless direction the choir became known for its flexibility (at its most basic the choir has around 40 singers, but it frequently expands to take on larger works), as well as for high standards in the widest repertoire – one week preparing Beethovens ‘Choral’ Symphony, Rossini’s Stabat Mater or Verdi’s Requiem to sing with symphony orchestra, the next Bach and Handel with a Baroque ensemble, and then a demanding a cappella programme. Over its relatively short life the choir has developed a warm association with a number of British conductors, including Bob Chilcott, Stephen Layton, Sir James MacMillan, and especially Paul McCreesh, whose series of award-winning recordings of Britten’s War Requiem, Mendelssohn’s Elijah and Haydn’s The Seasons, among otherthings, ensureda particularly close partnership. Such was the affection for McCreesh, that he now has his name on a plaque outside the concert hall, joining some of the most important names in Polish music of recent years, such as Krzysztof Penderecki, Stanislaw Skrowaczewski and Jacek Kaspszyk.

The NFM Choir's new artistic director, French conductor Lionel Sow, took on the role during the Covid pandemic: ‘It was not an ideal introduction, but I was still so impressed’ © LUKASZ RAJCHERT

The distinguished French conductor Lionel Sow became artistic director of the NFM Choir during the 2021/22 season. How did Sow find himself in the world of choral music? ‘I have always sung. From maybe the age of eight I had the chance to sing in a very good chamber choir; when I was a little older, I found myself conducting the same choir, and went on to study singing and choral conducting at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique in Paris. Then I became assistant conductor at Notre Dame, and ultimately in 2011 chorusmaster for the Chœur de l’Orchestre de Paris.’ Can he say what it is that makes conducting a choir such a different task from conducting an orchestra? ‘I think one has to learn that the gestures that work with an orchestra just don’t work with a choir. There is somehow a different way of defining things with singers, how to get the right balance and blend, to make the singers relax and be confident. It is important to be honest, only possible if the choir and conductor have a straightforward relationship – I’m not sure that kind of understanding is possible in the orchestral world. For me it is intonation above everything, to have the singers listen to themselves and each other, to save their voices, and make their tuning somehow more natural.’

Sow took over after one of the most traumatic periods of recent history, a time when it was not possible for any kind of collective music making to happen: ‘The first time I came to visit the choir, after two cancelled trips, things were still very difficult. Covid was still very much present, we had masks, distancing, it was really very hard and certainly not an ideal introduction for any of us. Despite that, I was still so impressed, not only with the quality of individual singers and their level of technique, but also the choir as a whole – their collective spirit, so to speak – and I felt immediately that I had things that I wanted to share with them. That, and being part of such a large and intriguing institution, this huge building with so many different kinds of music going on’. And what were the differences that you noticed between choirs in France and your new choir in Poland? ‘There are similarities; the choirs I work with in both countries have very skilled individual singers, but choirs in France have a very different sound – high, clear vowels. Here in Poland, it is perhaps a richer, fuller sound, perhaps the influence of the tradition of sacred music that is so important in Poland. Another very welcome difference is the rehearsal time – there is much more time here, which is a wonderful luxury.’

Lionel Sow describes the sound of Polish choirs as having ‘a richer, fuller sound’ than those in France, and reflecting the tradition of sacred music © LUKASZ RAJCHERT

I ask Sow about the sort of repertoire he is hoping to bring to the NFM Choir: ‘The choir has, of course, sung a great deal of Polish music, an area that I am not so familiar with, but I am doing a lot of listening and catching up. In the past they have done a lot of British music too, thanks to their work with a lot of great British conductors, so I might take them in a slightly different direction. French music, of course – Poulenc, Durufle, Messiaen, Daniel-Lesur, contemporary French music – but also some of the more demanding German repertoire from the late 19th and early 20th centuries, that I particular love – late Brahms motets, for instance, but in particular composers that are not so well-known or often performed, even in Germany: composers like Carl Reinecke, Hugo Distler, the very difficult “multi-choir” works of Max Reger, which challenge the choir in a very particular way, and encourage them to listen so carefully to each other. Bach, it goes without saying, for rhythmic discipline – we sang Singet dem Herrn in our first performance together, and I’d like to put at least one Bach motet in each concert, along with collaborations with the Baroque ensemble here, so that we can sing the Magnificat and the Christmas Oratorio. With a choir of 40 or so singers it is difficult to find the flexibility for Bach, but for all choirs, Bach is the biggest test of all!’

Under Lionel Sow’s leadership the rest of the 2022-23 season is as varied as one would expect – the Requiems of Mozart and Brahms, music by Schütz, Gérard Grisey’s demanding classic Les chants de lamour for 12 voices and tape, as well as music by Polish composers that Sow wanted to look at in more detail – Pawel Lukaszewski’s arrangement of some early pieces by Lutoslawski and a recent work by Michal Ziolkowski, From Dusk till Dawn, that features several of the NFM’s resident vocal and instrumental ensembles, as well as the NFM Choir. Still yet to celebrate its 20th birthday, the NFM Choir seems to be assured of a bright future.