One of the largest new instruments to be built in a European concert hall in recent times will be inaugurated in a special concert in Katowice, Poland, on Friday 13 January.
Finnish composer and conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen will direct the National Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra (NOSPR) and soloist Iveta Apklana in the world premiere of his new 25-minute Organ Concerto, co-commissioned by NOSPR, Berliner Philharmoniker Foundation, Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Philharmonie de Paris, Los Angeles Philharmonic and NDR Elphilharmonie Orchestra.
The new instrument has over a million parts, more than 7000 pipes and 105 stops, and measures 13 metres high, nine metres wide and six metres deep. That gives it a volume of 150 square metres, roughly equivalent to a single-storey house.
Under construction since April 2017, and the largest instrument ever built by the Slovenian organ builders Škrabl, the new organ has cost 20.6m Polish Złoty (PLN), roughly £3.9 million.
The organ is built in the French Symphonic style, and is inspired by the instruments in Rouen Cathedral and Notre-Dâme de Paris. The basic modelling follows the broad concepts set down by the pioneering 19th-century organ builder Aristide Cavaillé-Coll. To these concepts, however, it adds cutting-edge technology such as electromagnetic, electronic and fibre-optic systems.
The new organ makes a grand addition to Katowice’s 1,800-seat NOSPR concert hall, which opened in 2014 and serves as home to the National Radio Symphony Orchestra of Poland.