Nuits Bergamasques

Nuits Berbamasques recounts three days and two nights in Bergamo—a city rendered here not just as setting, but as emotional and sensory landscape. Among Piotr Lachert’s most impassioned works, this suite for piano trio unfolds in seven evocatively titled movements, each structured with internal subtitles that mirror a poetic or self-referential narrative.

1. Friday, Joy (Refrain, First Verse, Refrain bis, Second Verse, Refrain ter, Third Verse, Refrain encore)
A jubilant and whimsical opening, built on cyclical returns of a refrain—playful, spontaneous, and full of Mediterranean charm.

2. Friday Evening (Pleasant, Chaos)
A dual movement capturing the transition from tranquil evening atmosphere to sudden emotional disarray—a chiaroscuro of tone and rhythm.

3. First Night (Introduction, Amore del vento, Amore della terra, Berceuse)
A sensuous nocturne, blending elemental love (“of the wind”, “of the earth”) with a tender lullaby that dissolves into silence.

4. Saturday, the City (Refrain, First Verse “O sole mio”, Refrain bis, Second Verse “Yang Theng, the Chinese”, Refrain ter, Cathedral Bells, Refrain encore)
A bustling and humorous portrait of Bergamo’s Saturday life, full of musical allusions and city sounds, including the pealing of cathedral bells.

5. Carnival (Tarantella, Kujawiak, Polonaise)
A festive, multicultural fusion of dance forms: the Italian tarantella, the Polish kujawiak, and the majestic polonaise—a celebration of European carnival spirit.

6. Second Night (First Dance: isterico, Second Dance: ossessione, Third Dance: perdutamente, Amore della terra, Amore del vento, Ninna nanna)
The emotional core of the cycle: a progression from hysteria to obsession, to a delirious passion, and finally a return to elemental love and a final lullaby—“ninna nanna”.

7. Sunday, Separation (Wind and Earth, Destiny, Chorale)
A quiet farewell. Earth and wind return as symbolic forces; destiny unfolds in the form of a final chorale, solemn and resigned.