Beth Gibbons: Henryk Górecki: Symphony No 3 (Symphony of Sorrowful Songs) (PG)

The UK premiere screening of the Portishead singer and songwriter’s performance of Henryk Górecki’s Symphony No 3 (Symphony of Sorrowful Songs)

As one of the founding members of the iconic trip-hop band Portishead, Gibbons’s musical career has been decorated with electronic-fuelled instrumentation and guitar riffs. Trading contemporary for classical, Gibbons collaborated with the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra for this piece conducted by Krzysztof Penderecki.

This performance celebrates Górecki’s seminal work, which found billboard success after the then newly established radio station Classic FM gave it a home in the 1990’s. For this piece, Gibbons learnt not only a new style of singing, from contralto to soprano, but also a new language (Polish) to sing in. This recording took place at The National Opera Gran Theatre in Warsaw. An introduction from the musical director Jason Hazeley will take place and the event will be attended by Beth Gibbons herself.